#this man needs a solid month of cuddles

[moonlight1110]

Needy bf!Simon Coming Home from Deployment

Bf!Simon x Reader thoughts bc it's been a hot min since I last posted :')

Tags: afab!reader, smut, NSFW, far from canon Simon, not proofread, no reader dialogue, quick read

Notes: just thought I'd try to post something small, I can't for the life of me come up with a solid plot for a fic TT but I hope y'all enjoy these little drabbles

Bf!Simon is always rather quiet the first few days of being home from deployment. He needs his relaxation after a long few months of being away and needs that time to reacquaint himself with the home you two share.

He will eat dinner with you, chat and help with the chores but he goes straight to bed when he's done, quickly falling asleep even before you could get the chance to say goodnight or cuddle.

The first few days are always a bit of a rollercoaster, but you're used to it at this point, and he appreciates that even though he doesn't voice it out.

One night though, when you joined him in bed after a quick shower to freshen up, he wasn't asleep like he was the past few days after coming home, this was made evident when you had suddenly felt his strong arms wrap around your midsection, his chest pressed against your back as he held you close.

"Love..." He mumbled, his hot breath fanning over your nape as he began to press gentle kisses against your skin, his hands slowly roaming over your clothed body, splaying over your belly as he pressed himself closer.

"Missed you so much..." He mumbled, his voice low and gravelly all the while gently trailing his hand lower, caressing the soft skin of your thighs as his hand travelled beneath the silk fabric of your nightgown.

He was driven by the way you gasped and whimpered from his touch, his lips ever so gentle as his kisses trailed to your shoulders, taking the strap of your nightgown between his teeth as he gently pulled it down, leaving your skin exposed.

Simon wasted no time, not in any mood to tease. All he wanted to do was feel you against him, feel your skin against his own and claim you again. He was a man starved, though he didn't outwardly show it.

"M'sorry... That I haven't been loving you the way you deserve, pretty girl... Just needed some time to rest..." He explained, his words muffled slightly as he pressed kisses on your skin, whispering promises of pleasure and praise in your ear.

He gently cupped your mound beneath the nightgown, earning him a gasp from your lips which made him groan in satisfaction as he gently rubbed his fingers over your clothed pussy, feeling your heat even through the fabric.

His free hand trailed up until he reached the top of your nightgown, pulling it down to free your breasts. He wasted no time in cupping one in his hand, humming in satisfaction as he felt the weight of the plump breast in his palm.

"Beautiful..." He whispered, his breath against your ear as he gently rolled your sensitive nipple beneath his thumb, pinching it and caressing it with a gentleness he always had with you.

Meanwhile, his other hand lowered itself, sliding past the waistband of your underwear, his fingers immediately finding your clit and rolling it between his middle and ring finger, coating them with your slick.

"Can't fuck you the way y'need tonight, baby... But I promise I'll make it up to you..." He whispered against the shell of your ear, his hands working in tandem to bring you pleasure with slow and languid motions, his rough hands adding a layer of pleasurable texture against your sensitive clit.

The hand that was on your breast had moved lower, gently lifting your leg up to allow for more access as his fingers teased at your entrance, swirling around the throbbing muscles.

"Gonna take care of you, baby... You're so gorgeous like this... All mine..." He promised, his words quiet and rough against your skin as he slowly pushed two fingers inside your aching pussy. The feeling made you groan, toes curling at how unfamiliar they felt from being away from him for so long.

"That's it, pretty girl... Just relax and let me in... Missed this pretty pussy, baby... Missed being inside you..." He whispered, planting gentle kisses all across your skin as he began to stretch you open on his fingers, spreading your walls slowly to prepare you.

You could feel his growing bulge behind you, pressing against your ass as he fucked you on his fingers but you knew he'd be saving it for when he was ready enough to fuck you properly, for now, he was focused on using his fingers.

"Good girl... Taking my fingers so fucking good... Need to stretch you open before I fuck you tomorrow, baby... I promise I'll make you feel like I never left..."

[physics-of-one-piece]

Since I did what Doflamingo does/says in I'll build castles for you, my love (look at me, not my brother) (Rosinante x Reader x Doflamingo WIP) I bring the aforementioned brother from the title and a snippet (which is before he dies but I wrote it and nearly cried, so I thought it was worth a share) with him:

Some NSFW mentions in the bulletpoints but nothing descriptive:

Gets into a first bath in a month with Law and bathes him, trips on the floor getting out the bath

trips and falls in his own house in a hurry to get the medicine for Law's fever

most softest 10 foot lover in the One Piece World but he absolutely can rock your world

always careful with his big hands

never holds himself to intimidate while home

has fun coloured sweaters and fun shirts

your favourite outfit of his is his blue dress shirt and white pants, he looks so FINE in that 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 also his marine uniform without the coat 🫠

watches you fuss over Law and cries

he kneels down to hug you, and always loves getting his hair ruffled by you

peppers you with kisses when he comes home

removes make-up and makes Law scream thinking he's Doflamingo

"Did you think my actual name was Donquixote Corazon? Cutee~"

when asked by Law who you are, Rosinante blushes, smiles goofily and chuckles, saying "She's... my wife."

insulted by Law saying to you, "You deserve better."

dances with you in the kitchen

finishes his jobs for Doflamingo early so he can spend the rest of the days he is supposed to be away with you, which means this man sails to you as much as he can

spent two weeks with you and got you pregnant in that timeframe

always bring a bouquet and chocolates and souvenirs from islands he visited when he comes home to you

puts you in a Silent bubble so you can scream your anger/frustration away

his Silent is literally your therapy and when you tell him his Devil Fruit is your favourite Devil Fruit, he grins so bright, the sun wishes it could shine like that

you meet him when he crashes into you

How many guys can say their clumsiness got them a wife? Not many. Exactly, Rosinante is built different.

cries every time you make him pancakes for breakfast

actually a solid cook, but he needs to be watched, always have water nearby

You call him Rosi or Rosinante

He blushes when you call him Corazón or Cora-san. Once roleplayed as his "pirate" persona, and he managed for five minutes before breaking character and you laughed for a good ten minutes

you can get as loud as you want in the bedroom within his Silent bubble 😉

you love his red hat

he can bake cookies and they're sent from heaven

has his own marine squad since he's a Commander and his crew is awesome (original characters but I like them, you'll see)

kills a Celestial Dragon that tries to kidnap you and makes it look like an assassination by pirates - Sengoku is on board with it

humble and sweet wedding day, Rosinante cried the whole time

loves cuddles & loves your cooking

cried of joy when getting a lunch box for his journey with Law from you

takes the secret he has a wife to his grave, never mentioned you to Doflamingo, never let Doflamingo find out about you (considering the chapters with Doflamingo that come, very clear why)

died not knowing you were pregnant, as even you didn't know it at the time (I'm so sorry 😭)

And here is the snippet:

Your face flashed in his mind.

Sorry, mi amor. thought Rosinante.

The red lenses that have by now become his brother’s eyes stared down at Rosinante coldly, red stained glass reflecting the falling snowflakes.

Guess I’m not coming back home this time.

Rosinante was going to make sure Law gets away. He could get himself to Eudai by paying a fisherman to get him there. He’d be safe there, and with any luck, he could then decide what he wanted to do with his life. He knew you wouldn’t ask Law to stay with you if Law didn’t want to. You were good at reading the kid like that.

Law was a smart cookie. He’d probably activate his Devil Fruit powers in an hour from now on and heal himself within a minute. Rosinante knew it. He believed in it.

Rosinante isn’t worried about anything, he isn’t afraid. He is grateful. He is so grateful to be here, in this moment, on the side he considers right.

Not on the marines’ side. Not on the pirates’ side.

On Law’s side. He was Law’s Corazón now, not Doflamingo’s.

You said such to him yourself. Law saw Rosinante as his guide, Law trusted him, had faith in him, just like you did. Law had become a part of Rosinante’s family, your small family Rosinante was the patriarch of, the protector of. Rosinante wasn’t fighting for the marines now, or for the pirates. He was fighting for a sick little boy because nobody else would, nobody else wanted to, nobody else thought to, except him and you.

You had guided him and supported him to become the man he is today, catching him by the hand before he could trip and fall the same way his brother did. 

He remembered the first time you tried to teach him how to dance with him, and he ended up stepping on both your feet. 

“I’m so sorry! Please give me another chance.”

You told him, “Just enjoy the dance.” before pulling him into your first dance together, and he did as you asked, letting his legs follow the beat and the song, and it turned out okay. He never stepped on your feet again.

Six months later, he was dancing with you every day in the living room of the house the two of you called home, pulling you into a dance on the field of blue forget-me-nots, your sweet, soft laughter caressing his ears.

Because of you, Rosinante knew he’d never lose his way. Because if he did, you’d set him straight, grip his hand so he doesn’t fall apart. 

You were the flag Rosinante carried in his heart.

He felt so lucky to have you. He was the clumsiest, luckiest man on the planet. He never thought his clumsiness would bring him to you.

Rosinante was happy. Donquixote Rosinante was the happiest man on earth. He didn’t need any treasure, or an army, or a country, or immortality, or the world. None of those things could ever make him happy as living with you and Law did.

And Rosinante realised it then; it was that Doflamingo lacked. He had a family, but he also didn’t. For a moment, Rosinante pitied his brother, even though his brother had done it to himself. To live without experiencing pure happiness, genuine happiness, without hurting anyone to attain it… 

It must hurt, Doffy. thought Rosinante sadly. You must be lonely.

Rosinante looks at his older brother, and for the last time, there is a pang of pain in his heart at the sight of what his older brother has become. 

Rosinante pulled out the pistol, aiming it at his big brother — at Doffy, at Doffy — pulling back the safety pin, knowing very well he wouldn’t press the trigger, and knowing very well his brother would.

Rosinante really wished he’d gotten to dance with you one more time. 

***

Word Count Report:

Currently, Rosinante's part (Part 1) is 8.4k words, Doflamingo's Part 2 is 13k words so that one might get separated into 2 parts to keep it a normal word count. Part 3 (also Doflamingo) is the shortest at 4k words but there is a lot left to write and plan for that part.

Taglist: @fanaticsnail

[mandarinmoons]

Hi! i saw the other request and this came to mind!

reader and reid are in a situationship (not relationship) one night reader gets drunk and kisses someone else and reid sees it and gets jealous and kinda disappointed?? but he has to take her home, she asks him to stay but he doesnt wants to cajse hes mad Andd idk something like that but with happy ending pls 😩 if u dont want to dont do it Its ok <3 <3

Ofc i want to <3

You and Spencer had quite a unique relationship. At work you two were professional coworkers who were also good friends, but behind closed doors you two could be considered as more than friends. Cuddling, the occasional kiss or two or full blown making out, it was something you two kept to yourself. You both previously had bad luck in the romance game and would agree to keep things casual, nothing serious but as humans are, have a need for love and care, both of you agreed to offer it to one another.

It was hard to keep it to yourselves at times. Sometimes you had a desperate need to be in Spencer’s arms, but you were at work and had to keep your needs to yourself until both you and Spencer were in the safeness of your four walls.

One night you and the team headed out for drinks to celebrate a case that took over 3 months to solve. You were going to get wasted and if you were going to end up getting all touchy feely with Spencer you could attest that it was the alcohol talking, a solid alibi and no one would think that there was something going on between you and your close coworker.

Some hours in and a few cocktails and shots later, the booze had taken its effect and made you into a giggly and affectionate mess. After your first drink you were slightly cuddling into Spencer’s side, but now you had your arms wrapped around his neck and occasionally pressed a few kisses against his cheek.

"Who knew Y/N was so affectionate,” Emily laughed.

“Yeah what’s a man gotta do to have ‘em here all up in my arms,” Derek chimed in.

You scoffed and tightened your hold on Spencer’s neck, “If you know how to turn yourself pretty like Spencer over here, then you can give me a call.”

The whole team chuckled and a blush creeped on Spencer’s cheeks, although he did love the affection he was receiving from you he was a bit nervous about your little shared secret coming to light.

“Y/N, hey, I’ll get you some water okay? I don’t want you to have too bad of a headache in the morning.”

“Fineee,” you pouted as Spencer lightly took a hold of your hands and unraveled them from around him. You watched as he walked off and chuckled to yourself as your eyes did land on his rear, and you liked what you saw.

In your head for what seemed like 10 minutes, which was probably only 2, you stood up and headed towards the bar to find your special friend. You leaned your arms on the counter to try and steady yourself and felt a hand on your arm.

“Hey, you okay there?”

You nodded and looked up to see Spencer looking at you with concerned eyes, or what looked to be Spencer. Your vision was a bit blurry, but you could still make out the sharp jawline and brown eyes that you adored.

“I missed you.”

“Did you?” the man chuckled and caressed your arm.

You nodded and leaned closer and pecked his lips lightly, which turned into a deeper kiss a moment later.

All of a sudden you felt yourself be pulled back by a forceful tug, “What’re you doing?!”

You looked up and saw a very clearly heated Spencer, his eyebrows were furrowed and you could make out a vein protruding from the side of his forehead, the man you had just kissed was not him.

“Spence I-”

“I’m taking you home, now.”

Spencer’s grip on your arm was gentle yet firm as he dragged you to the table the team was sitting at, took your coat and said good night to everyone, before turning around with you in his arms and headed to his car.

The ride back to your apartment was silent. You may have been inebriated, but you could tell that Spencer was pissed. Why should he be though? You weren’t a couple so what’s the problem? Well, the boundaries you both set up were kind of blurry and over time you both seemed to cross them more and more. You wouldn’t be able to lie to yourself that you didn’t feel something towards him if you were to see Spencer kissing someone else, the thought made your stomach churn, or maybe that was the alcohol? No, this was different.

After helping you up the stairs, lying you down on the couch and draping a blanket over you, Spencer turned on his heel and turned towards the door.

"Spence, wait!”

Spencer turned around and clenched his jaw as he glanced at you, you had never seen him be this pissed off.

“I thought that it was you I… I’m sorry,” tears pricked to your eyes and your voice wavered, you couldn’t lose him, not right now.

Spencer sighed and cast his eyes down before slowly moving towards your way and sat down next to you. You hugged him and he wrapped his arms around you gently, one of his hands cradling your head.

"Please stay.”

Spencer nodded and tightened his hold on you, “I will sweetheart, don’t worry.”

Soon enough you fell asleep on his shoulder and Spencer moved so you both were laying down on the couch. He pulled the blanket over both of you and pulled you close to his chest, kissing your head and smiled when he felt you nuzzling into his neck.

Spencer knew that he couldn’t keep this up any longer, his feelings for you had grown quite strong and he didn’t want to keep sneaking around. He knew that it wasn’t other people’s business as to what was going on in his love life, but it felt unfair on you and him that he had to keep this under wraps when you were the reason he was so happy after a long while.

He sighed as he caressed your back and admired your peaceful face. This was it, he had to talk to you in the morning.

Taglist: @radioactiveinvisible @whoisspence

@sreidisms @lanascinnamongirls @luvkatryna

If you want to be a part of my taglist go here!

You can find my masterlist here!

My requests are open so feel free to send one in! (SFW only)

[winterarmyy]

Behind The Facades | Part II

An unrequited pining over a certain super solider.

Navigation: Part I || Part II || Part III (end)

Words: 3.3k++

Pairings: avenger!bucky x female!reader

Warnings: angst. pent up anger. unspoken jealousy. conflicted feelings.

P/S: i heard you. i got you. since lots of you enjoyed the supposedly oneshot, so i decided to do a continuation for this couple. Hope you enjoy~

Read my other works here: Masterlist

Weeks gone by, months flown through and the team was already accustomed Bucky's girlfriend wandering around the tower. Though they thought she would move-in eventually, knowing that Tony allowed them to do so, but she hadn't done it yet.

While Y/N, on the other hand, felt like she was constantly walking on thin ice. Being tug in between holding herself together and breaking down.

What's worst about this was, deep down, Y/N wanted to hate her.

Gail Richards.

Bucky's girl.

A gorgeous red-head, sultry champagne-colored eyes, a deep dimple on her right cheek, sculptured body of goddess and heart of gold.

Y/N got to admit that she hated how perfect Gail was for Bucky. She had such a kind soul; it's impossible not to fall for her. In hindsight, she was exactly what Bucky needed in his life.

What he deserve.

And in the end, Gail managed to steal not just Bucky's heart, but also the entire team's.

Including Y/N herself.

The friendship between Gail and Y/N was true and genuine; even if it hurts her everytime when she was forced to see Gail canoodling with the man she had fallen madly in love with.

"So where's the date? Did he tell you or is it a surprise kind of thing?" Gail's questions snapped Y/N from her deep internal thoughts.

Her gaze fell into her own reflection in the mirror; she was fitted with a simple black satin dress, with a quite scandalous slit on one side on her thigh. Standing behind her, was Gail, helping her out with the pearl necklace she was graciously lending it to Y/N.

"I don't remember the name but it's that new michelin star restaurant." Y/N replied as she straighten her dress, suddenly feeling conscious of how tight the dress was hugging her body.

"Oh! I know that fancy new restaurant. It opened last week, right? Bucky and I haven't had the chance to go yet. I heard it's pretty hard to get reservation. I must say, I'm impressed."

While Gail seemed to approve of Y/N's date, she didn't notice the way Y/N's body froze as she mentioned Bucky's name.

Her fingers were itching to dug it's nails somewhere, anywhere; as she try to keep her composure as neutral as possible, "Yeah, I'll definitely give you my review before you guys go on a date there. Who knows if its not up to the standards, right?"

Oh, how desperate she was on wanting to hide her pain away.

"That's great, y/n! But, I'd rather you actually enjoy the date rather than secretly being an undercover food critique. Forget about everything and have fun for once! Who knows this one is a keeper, huh?" Gail rubbed her hands to side of Y/N's arms; her eyes brighten as she encouraged her.

Ignorance is truly a bliss; though it's not that she knows that Y/N had been in love with Bucky this whole time.

On the other hand, Bucky was starting to feel the effects of what Gail had warned him before. He doesn't want to feel like she doesn't love him because she does.

At least she tries to.

Persuing Gail was not necessarily easy; not because he was lacking or she played hard to get. But because of how honest she was; how self aware she was.

"Being with me is a hell of a challenge, Bucky. My emotions are unpredictable. Today, I will love you ever so truly; I will drown you with all the kisses and cuddles you could ever imagine but the next day you might not being able to talk to me or even see me."

"I'll go M.I.A and isolate myself from the world at any time, with no warning. I shut down without any reason."

"I might not be there for you when you needed me the most. I might abandon you when all you wanted for me to stay."

"Worst part about it is I won't feel sorry for what I did because I can barely feel anything during those time."

But he insisted to try.

Maybe it was the sudden surge of passion when he met her but he was determined that they could make it work.

So, try they did.

As his relationship with Gail progresses, his and y/n's started to astray. He noticed y/n has been keeping her distance with him since he got together with Gail.

She had been cooped up in her room more often. There was a gradual changes in their schedule. Lesser trips to the corndog stall that y/n was obsessed with, canceled trips on visiting Alpine, the cute little kitten they have been eyeing at the adoption center, and almost none of the late night coffee trips.

He missed her.

From her annoying laugh to her odd habit of scratching things in her sleep.

Her smile, her voice, her presence.

He missed all of it.

He missed her.

Which was why Bucky thought it was better to talk it out with her. Maybe there was some sort of misunderstanding that needed to be clear out.

It took just single knock before Bucky intrude himself into Y/N's room, "Hey, y/n I don't want to disturb you but can we..." Bucky's sentence did not managed to end with a period, thus his words was instead left hanging just like his mouth.

"Oh, wow."

For a moment there, Bucky literally forgot how to breath. It was as if the reality around him was deteriorating, leaving just the perfect view of Y/N. For a split second, his gaze seemed to dilated into a trance, slowly getting bewitched by the beauty before him.

Bucky was so captivated by how, almost sinfully, beautiful Y/N looked in that dress, he didn't notice his own girlfriend was standing right next to her.

Gail carefully slide her way towards Bucky as she prompted, "So... what do you think, Buck? Gorgeous isn't she?" A dreamy sigh escaped from Gail's lips as she admire the woman in front of her.

"Yes. Yes, she is."

Those were the words Bucky wanted to say but his mouth wasn't listening to his heart, rather it followed his head, "I didn't know you were coming over, honey." Bucky arms reached towards Gail as he scooped her close to him, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

It was subtle but if they paid enough attention, they could see how Y/N's gaze quickly shifted downwards to her feet. Her teeth sunk between the insides of her left cheek as an effort to distract herself from the thunderstorm within her chest. A little bit more force on her teeth would've tore her up and left her bleeding from the inside.

How much longer she must be in this torment? How much suffering her heart needs to endure until it adapt to the pain? She's tired of the ache in her chest but at the same time she can't help it when her heart yearn for a love that's never going to be hers.

"Well? Is she not goddamn beautiful?" Gail playfully slapped Bucky's arm, demanding her question to be answered.

"I mean..." Bucky stuttered to find words. Especially when those round doe eyes of Y/N's spark with anticipation.

All those milliseconds of time Bucky had to think of an appropriate, truthful answer but somehow he only come up with, "...i guess, you could do better."

Idiot.

Straight up dumb.

Bucky immediately regret his words when the gleam in Y/N's eyes suddenly faded; turning into something cold and stoic.

Gail huffed in denial, before taking Y/N's side, "Then you sir, need to check your eyes because she's absolutely stunning". Y/N gave a small smile as Gail pulled her for a side hug.

"Why are you dressed up anyway?" Bucky wanted change the topic before he said something stupid again.

There was a noticeable pause on Y/N's side as he asked, as if she was unwilling to tell him. However, the reluctantcy only arouses his curiosity.

Y/N turned around and faced the mirror. As she fixed the necklace near her collarbone, she made an eye contact with Bucky through his reflection and answered, "I have a date."

Something shifted in the air; as if it was getting heavier, sturdier.

"Who's the guy?" Bucky was clearly not amused with the idea. It barely filtered through his stern tone.

"Daniel. One of the SHIELD agent I worked with before." Y/N noticed how his expression morphed into a frown.

"Why is he making that face? "

Bucky seethed, "That douchebag? Really y/n?" There's a hint of disappointment in his voice; like how a father would scold his daughter of doing something stupid.

And that ticked her off.

She's a grown-ass woman; she can do whatever she wants, date whoever she wants. None of it was Bucky's concern.

"What do you mean?" Annoyance flowed through her tone.

Bucky rolled his eyes as he recognized that name.

Daniel.

That scumbag whose always staring at her. And not in a cute, crush-like way. There's nothing innocent about the way he stare at Y/N's ass and boobs, or always finding excuses to touch her.

However, Y/N has been oblivious to it since Bucky had always been with her.

Since when did that douche got close to Y/N? How did he managed to get Y/N agree to go to a fucking date with him? More importantly, how did Bucky not know all of this?

There was this uncontrollable, unexplainable rage within Bucky that he was unable to contain; like a venomous poison it seeped through his head, "Are you that needy to even consider going out with such scum? Come on, y/n. You're being naive, it's ridiculous." Bucky scoffed as his tone laced with scorn and mockery.

Gail gasped in complete shock, "What is wrong with you, Bucky? That's not--"

"That's not fair. How can you have the luxury to fall in love and lived happily ever after while I have to continue to break and break, again and again?"

"Ridiculous? Am I a fucking joke to you, Bucky?!" Y/N could hold back her own anger as she turned towards him. His face remained the way that it is; red and furious and he was not willing to put his ego down either.

"You know what?" Y/N swerved towards the bed, "I am going to go this date with Daniel, whether you like or not..." She took her purse on the edge of the mattress, "...and I am going to enjoy every second of it!"

"Thanks, Gail. I really appreciate your help today." Y/N smiled as she briefly took Gail's hands into hers. Blinking in confusion, Gail replied, "Y-yeah.. sure--" though her speech was cut short when Y/N interrupted.

"And you!" Y/N shot a glare towards Bucky before marching towards him, "You can go fuck yourself." She clashed her shoulders into Bucky's before walking out her own room.

Bucky gritted his teeth; his jaw clenched in pure vexation as his frown grew deeper.

Looking at her very angry looking boyfriend, Gail let out a tired sigh, "Why would you say such thing to her, Bucky?

Why did he say those things?

He could explain it much better way, knowing that he had plausible reason to why he thinks she should not go to this date.

But, why did he not do that?

Why did he lash out and spat those hurtful things to her?

Even Bucky himself was not sure why.

After that Bucky spent the rest of the night at the gym, and this was the third punching bag that he had completely destroyed. He could see his girlfriend coming in from the corner of his eyes, with an emergency kit in her hand.

She sat at a nearby bench before, "Bucky sweetheart, come here." Gail softly asked him sit with her.

Despite the grunts and gruffs that slipped from his lips, he still obeyed her; though partially was because she had been sternly staring at him.

Gail gently remove his boxing glove of his right hand, then lo and behold his knuckles was crushed and bloodied.

"The wrappings is there for a reason, you know?" She knew he would this; especially when he is guided by rage. Bucky remained silent, knowing that if he did not control his anger first; then he would probably do the same thing he did to Y/N again.

There was a comfortable silence as Gail was tending his wounds. Bucky looked down at her, focusing on cleaning the wounds. She was always careful and tender while handling Bucky; as if she was taking care of a child.

"You love her, don't you?" Gail calmly asked as she started to wrap Bucky's hand.

The question caught him by surprise, "What do you mean?"

She chuckled softly, "y/n. You love her. Am I right?" she reclarify.

It didn't need a genius to figure out how Bucky truly feels about Y/N. Even if he himself if not aware of his own feelings.

But she can see right through him.

She noticed how attentive was Bucky towards y/n. How he looked at her; like she's his whole world. How every single thing he does somehow relates back to Y/N; and he cannot go by a day without mentioning her name in their any conversation. How peaceful looked when y/n is anywhere near him.

She noticed every single one of those detail.

"Of couse, I do. It's y/n we're talking about here." Bucky replied as-matter-of-factly. Though there was some truth in his answer but it was not all.

Gail shook her head lightly as she holds Bucky's wounded hand in hers, "No, Bucky. You love her." Her brows crunched into a pleading curve as her gaze turned gentle.

Bucky frowned in confusion; he looked down at his hand where her thumb caressing his knuckles and he thought back all the moments he spent with y/n.

From the very first day he met her, on those nights she stayed with him, through thick and thin, her eyes on his, her smile on his cheek, her laugh in his arms, her voice in his ears, her skin on left arm, everything flashed through him so fast until a single moment when he realizes.

"I love her."

Gail recognized the glint his eyes, "And she loves you too, Buck." She coaxed.

The frown on his face turned into a shock as she spoke. Even if Y/N does love him, what does that mean?

"What are you saying?"

"Go." Her voice were somehow calmer than she was supposed to speak in such a dire situation.

Bucky knew what she meant; he knew what those eyes were telling him, "Gail, you--"

She cut him before he could say anything, "We did agree to see where will this take us..." her smiled was somehow bitter-sweet, "And I guess this is our end of the line."

A hit of pain struck Bucky's heart, "You don't have to do this." His left hand raised to tenderly cupped her cheeks; it was warm. Unlike his winter cold hand, she was warm. Like the soft heat from the morning sun.

She placed her hand on top of his as she craved a reassuring smile, "I want to."

And that broke Bucky's heart. And it broke for her.

He loved Gail.

All the feelings he felt for her was real. As real as the feelings he felt for Y/N. The only difference was he didn't realized he was in love with Y/N, but he did with Gail.

"And to be honest, I'm not sure I can keep up with the emotional commitments, I'm always M.I.A and lost in my own head..."

As Gail starts to ramble, Bucky wasn't hearing any of it. His eyes stings and his vision blurred.

There was only so much any man can handle.

There was joy in realizing his was in love with Y/N but there was also agony in knowing he had to break Gail's heart. Unable to hold back his emotions anymore, his tears finally broke out.

She was prepared not to cry today but seeing Bucky like this; who wouldn't tear up, right?

"Hey hey hey, I'll be okay. We'll be okay." She placed her palm on Bucky's cheeks, wiping away the tears with her thumb as she lead his gaze to her own.

"Bucky, listen to me. I don't want you feeling like you're alone." she cooed, her eyes had gotten glassy as tears filled within them. "You deserve so much more than what I can offer you, do you understand?" Bucky can simply nod as he feels like his voice will betray him.

"Good." Gail closed her eyes and leaned into a kiss. A soft innocent kiss on his forehead, as their tears fall on each other's bare skin, "Now, go get your girl."

<< Part I || Part III >>

Read my other works here: Masterlist

A/N: Feel free to leave some feedback behind! And what do you think of Gail? I thought it'd be nice to have a different characteristics for her instead of the cliche 'bitchy and rude' girlfriend.

There's no actual taglist. So, I only include those who reblogged with comments and/or commented on the previous part. However, do tell if you want or do not want to be tagged.

Taglist: @ghostofwinter @angstysebfan @erinallene @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @paarthurnax59 @nomajdetective @kentokaze @dexter99 @nana1000night @prettyinpink350

[glassica]

The Man of Your Dreams

Notes: M!yan spirit x F!reader, paranormal, reincarnation, implication of death & murder, supernatural, lucid dream, possession, sexual acts, implication of masturbation

Some nights, when you still lying awake alone on mattress, you could’ve heard the sound of banging on door and knob turning over incessantly. “It’s just the wind,” your roommate shrugged. Make sense, but you couldn’t brush off the feeling that someone is trying to enter the room.

Then some times later those eerie sounds stopped and finally you could put aside that unexplained fear for good. This was also around the time you started dreaming about a strange man. Not so model-handsome, but certainly charming and approachable. Right at first meeting you knew he was the perfect kind of lover you wished for. Even as dreams, the exchanges were more dynamic and effortless than with any dates you went to in real life. He was attentive to your thoughts, always recalled what brings you joys or sorrows, even the hidden secrets you had yet open up. It was safe to conclude he know more about you than yourself.

Dreams of him. Once every few months. Then fortnight. Then weekly. And now was every nights. You had discarded the real world. No longer looked forward to the first light of new day, your true life began when moon hung amidst sparkling stars and the mind drifted away into the dreamland, into his warm presence. So what if he was just an illusion, a likely product of subconsciousness? When he wrapped you tightly against chest, adorning on your neck thousands of butterfly kisses before taking off the fabrics witheld the treasure he’d craved to taste it whole. When he bit and sucked senselessly your nipple while pinching the other til both were pinky, harderned and wet in saliva. When his shaft hurriedly drilled in and out yours from the back while hands busy squeezing pair of dough so reddened from someone’s loving slaps. By the time waking up, panties embarrassingly sloppy and the tip of fingers solidated from you-know-what. Your roommates teased, what kind of wild thoughts you’d been entertaining lately?

But soon the teasing turned to clear concern. Forget close circles, everyone you met outside could sense the lifelessness of your manners. They started noticing the fatigue evident on those eye bags, the back hunched over and footsteps dragging wearily on floor. It was difficult to put in words, but it seemed as if the soul of yours was draining day by day, metaphorically and literally. You skipped classes, declined hangouts, even stopped visiting home on weekends just to get more sleeps. To get more time with him. 

So the roommates sat you down. They were glad your all-nighters had ended, nevertheless everything too much wasn’t good. Did you suffered from any illnesses or troubles, and if you needed to see doctors. In response you just waved hand with disinterest. Why should they care? It wasn’t that serious!

“You know love, my friends and family are so annoying. They keep nagging me that I sleep too much, when just some times ago it was also them telling me to stop competing with owls!”

You rolled over, nuzzling your face in his chest. It was after another steamy round, the two laid there cuddling, letting yourselves soaked in each other’s gentle warmth. Like always, you began telling him about things happened in real world, though you barely remember what your days were like anymore.

“In other words they want you to spend less time on your lover,” he chuckled, rubbing his hand on your back, “I told you so. They are a jealous, petty bunch. Not worth anything.”

“Um, that’s kinda harsh. I’m bothered by their scolding but that doesn’t mean I don’t get them. It’s true that I’ve been neglecting myself in reality a lot now.”

“...”

You got that chills running down the shivers again. Yes you were well aware how this man reacted to you defending your close people in real life, but wasn’t it time for him to start warming up on them?

…Nevermind, you should said something to distract him instantly. It was pure wish-fulfillment to hope he could be civil about your friends and family, please give up.

“A- Anyways, I’ve thought about this for long. Isn’t it tragic that we can’t see each other outside of dreams?”

“Indeed. If I could, I would’ve met and snatched you from these pests earlier,” he pulled your chin up, forcing your mouth opened for a wet kiss, “but God wasn’t fair. I wasn’t allowed to reincarnated on human’s realm again. That’s why I could only pine after you mindlessly as a lost spirit.”

“You don’t remember, but we were a couple in our previous lives. On your deathbed, I had sworn to find and keep you tight if we were to reborn in this world. You may look different from your past life, but I recognized your soul immediately. I’m such a wonderful partner, no?! I’m hurt that you went on dates with those worthless stupid guys when you had an amazing husband right there!” 

His words were sweet like honey, but the tone suggested otherwise. You thought you’d seen the worst of his madness, but that staled in comparison to the storm reflecting on his pupils. Towering on your body and both arms putting down beside your head resembling a cage, for the first time ever did you ever had an accurate visualization of how facing a devil feels like. 

“Well but you already know, I didn’t, or more like, couldn’t reborn. My soul is forced to wander on living realm for who knows how long. In the mean time, you will move on, you will marry some idiot, have kids, pass away for a second time in front of my own eyes, and I still not get out of this limbo!” - he growled angrily, thumbs caressing your neck, “So maybe, maybe if we can’t reunite in this life, you could join me instead. It’s okay. As long as we are together. As long as you stay by my side. As long as you’re forever mine.”

He tightened his grip on your neck.

Next morning, your family opened the phones to see hundreds of missed calls and texts from the roommates. Everyone woke up, except you.

[intothedysphoria]

The first words out of Billy’s mouth was “well what’s the point of it?”

This was a frequent phrase to leave Billy’s lips. Though it stung a little bit after Steve had spent so long scavenging for tickets.

It wasn’t like Billy was deliberately being a killjoy in fairness. He was more a self described pragmatist, which made sense considering he’d lived in a house where food on his plate was a coin toss most of the time. Billy liked things to have a point, a purpose and apparently Little Shop of Horrors on broadway didn’t fit the bill.

Steve would bring him round to it. Eventually.

He had on actually nice food, not just beans and meat scraped out of a tin. One carefully placed call to Steve’s favourite restaurant and Billy was swinging by the local Jamaican convenience store for the weekly shop, looking for food that was so spicy his eyes would stream.

And it wasn’t like Billy disliked music. Steve had spent enough time sitting in the car whilst Billy went to a Metallica concert, volume so loud it made tears prickle. He had as much, if not more, in his vinyl collection than Eddie Munson did.

Really, what Billy saw as pointless was what he’d dubbed “rich people shit.”

It was a broad category, which ranged from whenever Steve would try to rope him into wearing a suit for a wedding to Steve’s desperate longing to go back to the theatre. Musicals, in Billy’s eyes, were the dictionary definition of rich people shit.

(Apart from Merrily We Roll Along, which Billy had a not so secret attachment to.)

Steve pleaded and pleaded and pleaded. The man wouldn’t budge. It didn’t matter that it was camp or stupid or written by a queer trailblazer. Billy still stared with skeptical eyes and rolled back over to his side of the bed.

Steve wrapped the covers a little tighter around his torso and tried not to let his lip wobble at the lack of being cuddled.

It felt better when he woke up in Billy’s arms again. Well, a bit.

Robin had said he just needed to talk. Billy was an adult, he was perfectly able to listen and would be more than open to. Steve didn’t tell her that Billy was no longer the one who had issues talking.

Billy was being very nice to Steve that morning. Suspiciously nice. Like bringing him breakfast in bed and letting Steve watch The Sound of Music not at Christmas nice. The kind of nice he reserved for either anniversaries or when they were about to have a serious conversation.

It wasn’t the 15th of July so of course it was the latter.

He placed his hands on Steve’s knee and asked what was up. Steve managed to hedge for a solid 5 minutes before spilling. Then Billy made an odd face and disappeared into the wardrobe.

And pulled out a suit. Asking if this was the outfit he was meant to wear to a musical.

Steve smiled and said he could wear whatever he wanted.

The flying to New York was awful. Billy hated flying. More rich people shit. As was getting a taxi. And getting their coats taken at the door of the hotel.

Really, he only settled down when they were in the theatre lobby and he saw the picture on the Playbill. Then he burst out laughing.

Billy loved it. Steve knew he would.

He kissed Steve, so soft and mumbled “thanks lovely” on their way out of the theatre. Steve was absolutely jubilant.

And I’m a Mean Green Mother from Outer Space was the chosen song for Billy to sing in the kitchen for the next two months.

[darling-solaire]

Redacted Hair HCs ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

David

For David I definitely see him having roughly shoulder length hair in his younger years pre Gabes death so they could match because he always looked up to him and took pride in people saying they looked alike

However after his death I can definitely see him finding it too painful to look in the mirror and see his father staring back at him so he began to consistently cut his hair much shorter in a buzz cut style to create as much distinction as possible

After the inversion and the hectic months that followed I definitely see him being too overwhelmed to keep up with meticulously cutting his hair (he had so much else to worry about) that he didn’t even notice until one day he was cuddling with Angel after a long day drifting almost to sleep when he notices them playing with the ends of his hair and they say “your hairs gotten so long it suits you so well” and David can’t help but smile as he drifts off in their arms

+ Bonus Darlin

I think Darlin also was someone who had longer hair most their life but after leaving and going with Quinn they cut their hair short at least to jaw

When asked they’d say it’s so Quinn had easy access whenever he needed a quick fix but in reality it felt like the only thing they still had control over

I HC darlin and David as cousins so I think they would also suffer a similar issue that with their hair grown out their simply reminded too much of what they left and getting rid of it is the easiest way to dull the empty feeling but now that they’re free they definitely have started to grow it back without even realising

Sam

Sam was definitely one of those kids that were super light blond as a kid but their hair darkened with age except in Sam’s case it started reversing back to blond simply because of how often he spent days in the sun (I also think that’s how he got his freckles)

And after years of being unable to go out in the daylight those are his only reminders of how much he loved the sun

Also he definitely has a shaggy mullet

Milo

Milo has meticulously taken care of his hair since he was old enough to take care of it himself to the point that Marie had to hide her expensive oils because he would put too much on whenever he’d go out

I’d say he’s probably the most dedicated to keeping himself on top of self care (David is a solid second)

That man has naturally loose curled hair and because he doesn’t keep it very long he always makes sure to have a strategic curl hanging on his face

Milo and sweetheart definitely spend weekends piling each others hair before they shower together as a little couples activity

Babe (+Asher)

To me babe has braids and I will not let anyone fight me on that

They used to keep them in their natural colour until one day they asked Asher what colour they should do and he joked about going blond to match him and they’ve used the same colour ever since

Lasko

Lasko was definitely born with black hair and maybe it was hereditary or maybe it is all stress but that man started turning grey the second he left home

He had his guest grey hair at the ripe age of thirteen and it’s been going down hill since then

At first he was probably really self conscious about it but he’s definitely embraced it fully now especially with how often dear comments how cute it is

Anton

Anton is the type of person to not care too much about his appearance like he was the type of kid who had a bowl cut growing up because who cares about what he looks like when his mind is what actually represents him right?

He wasn’t a slob but he was neglectful at times and it wasn’t until he’d first met his partner did he ever feel the need to fix up his hair to the point where it became a twitch whenever he’d think of them

[st0nesnglitter]

Prongsfoot x Reader Headcannons <3

A/N: hi, woke up with lots of thoughts about this particular pairing. I haven’t written in like six months so it’s short and kinda bad lol. Also I always thought the shipname Buckstar..

GN!reader except the last bulletpoint.

The difference between James and Sirius is easiest described by this: golden retriever and black cat. James is touchy-feely, loves cuddling and needs exercise to keep him sane. He’s all goofy smiles and curls, and loves very openly. Sirius is quietly observing, elegant and shows affection on his own terms, but when he does it’s amazing. He leaves fleeting touches to get you to come to him, pretty smirks and sharp eyes.

Since they’ve known each other for such a long time they bicker like it’s a sport. Their arguments rage from Quidditch brooms to pizza, from the prettiest flowers to what are the best dress shoes. Often times they want you to settle their disputes for them, which lead to extravagant compliments to win you over.

“Aw come on, love, you know I’m right” Sirius purred into your ear. “Just say that lip oil is better than lipbalm and I’ll show you how soft my lips can feel”

“DON’T FALL FOR HIS CHEAP TRICKS!” James screams from across the room.

Mornings in James’ bed are warm and soft. James loves, loves, loves being big spoon whilst Sirius usually wants to rest his head against your chest which often leads to you being in the middle. Sandwiched between two gorgeous men, who adore you, makes it hard to leave each morning.

nsfw

Their competitive streak definitely comes out in the bedroom too. Having a “who can make our partner cum the fastest/ the most times/ the most intense” competition that usually leads to every muscle in your body aching and the dire need for some new sheets.

“I think I got four” James mumbles as he softly dabs a washcloth over your spent body.

“Yeah right, you got two at best!” Sirius argues as he grabs you some boxers to wear to bed. “I, however, got three solid ones”.

When James feels subbier he wants to be used like a toy. He is def a pleasurer in every mood but when he feels a little foggy and frustrated he just wants to give and give. So even though Sirius is pounding into him from behind he is still determined to give you the best head of your life. His eyes get so pretty and glasslike, with his brows furrowed as asks to fuck you even though he’s shaky from Sirius and you’ve already came onto his tongue.

When Sirius doesn’t feel his best he is the opposite. He just want to degrade and mock, let his frustration out through his delicious malice. There’s a slight Madonna-whore complex within him, since he and James have fooled around for some time and you’re the new addition, he feels like he can be rougher toward Jamie. You can tell his mood through how hard he kisses, grabbing onto the back of your neck and using your hair as leverage. He makes a mess out of James’ curls, makes him look like a real slut, and usually ends with Sirius giving James a facial. Seeing his boyfriend with messy, sweaty hair and a flushed face that is covered in his cum usually snaps him out of his bad mood.

One thing they never got tired of arguing about: who has the bigger dick. There’s only been one time they’ve argued who has the smaller: when you agreed to do anal. It was after a Quidditch win and they shared a quick glance before starting to debate.

“Well you are definitely longer!” James says and gestures with his hands to measure out a guesstimate of Sirius’s dick.

“Oh come on, mate, you have a fat cock”

After a few minutes of bickering you just decided for yourself. And since Sirius was more slender you felt more comfortable with him taking your anal virginity. But you didn’t want James to feel left out so he got to prep you. And this man took this job with the upmost seriousness. He ate you out, worked in one finger at a time, playing with your clit to make you relax. When Sirius finally pushed into your tight hole you were already so close to the edge. He stilled when he was balls deep to let you adjust, but as he started to thrust into you your eyes widened and legs started to shake.

“I made her cum from anal… I am a god!” Sirius was breathing heavily, on cloud nine.

“Oh please! I placed her right on that edge for you, you only tipped her over”

And the bickering continued…

[ameliawarnerr]

Hi, hope you're doing well. I wanted to suggest a one-shot where the mc had a bad day and starts crying and Jake cuddles her and comforts her.

Here you go. I hope you like it <3

(Requests for Duskwood one shots open!)

-

“Well, what do you want me to do now?” MC asked hopelessly. She felt tied and blindfolded with a million voices tormenting her in her head and not one of them would guide her to a path out of this situation.

Mike looked at her with the same helplessness. Mike was her assistance and right now, both of them were in trouble brought upon by MC's past negligence towards her job during Hannah's investigation.

At last, Mike sighed, “Right now, I think you should go home, okay? You are stressed and-”

“Going home wouldn't change the situation, Mike. We need to answer them.” MC cried out, browsing through the one month old documents she had spread around her desk. “Let's go over it again. May 4, a blond man came in to collect his revised documents. Now, I don't know if I was in the office that day. But he has the documents.”

Mike decided to entertain another round of revision on their end. “Yes, meaning you were present because no one but you could've have given him the documents.”

MC let out a sharp breath. “No one had come in for revision of documents since January. How could I have given him the wrong documents? I mean, there were no other documents I could've gotten confused with.”

Both of them were silent for another five minutes. Mike leaned on MC's desk. “See, this is getting no where. Look,” he straightened, “we'll just apologise, okay? If you feel your job is in trouble, I'll take it upon me. They can't fire me because that's partially your decision.”

Mike had proposed this idea when they had started this discussion and MC didn't fancy it any more than the first time. She didn't like putting blame on someone else. But she was lost. And that was unlike her. It was MC, she always had a way, a solution. That's why she founded Hannah without ever knowing her personally. That's why the group trusted her so much. She couldn't believe she was failing now.

“It's okay.” Mike said on seeing her doubtful frown. “I really don't mind. You should go home now. Rest. I'll take care of the rest.”

MC swallowed her abashment like a solid rock and thanked him with an apologetic smile.

-----

MC kicked off her shoes and stalked into her apartment that she shared with her boyfriend. The apartment was perfect for the two with a cute open kitchen, spacious living room, two bedrooms (one of which they turned into Jake's computer room) and an alluring balcony.

Usually, MC would greet Jake straight away in his computer room but right now she didn't have strength for anything but falling down on the couch. She felt like the biggest failure, tasting the beginning of her downfall.

She adjusted the pillow and stared outside a window at the grey sky. She hadn't bothered turning on the lights. Her head turned instinctly towards Jake's computer room, yellow light escaping from under the door.

Though she couldn't see him, she could feel his presence, feel how she was drawn to him. At last, she picked up her phone and texted him. Apparently she didn't feel good about seeking comfort either now.

MC: I'm home. I'm dying.

Jake was out of his room in an instant. “MC?” He called out in the dark living room, face towards the kitchen.

MC raised her leg from the couch. “Here.”

It hasn't been even a month of them living together but they were quite comfortable in their little apartment. All the time they were yet to spend with each other filled their minds with endless possibilities.

MC sat up as Jake approached her. Her eyes were already adjusted to the dark and she saw most of him in it. His black hair were hard to spot but his flawless skin wasn't. He wore a black tshirt which made MC stare at his arms longer than she intended.

When he was near enough, she began, “Your girlfriend is a failure and she might lose her job so now wouldn't be a bad time to tell her that you can steal money from ban—” Her eyes started to water with the words leaving her mouth.

Jake didn't let her finish her self-degrading speech. He put his hands around her- one around her shoulders and other one on her waist. He hoisted her up and sat on the couch with MC on his lap.

“Oh,” she let out. MC was yet to get used Jake's touch. She hadn't thought his love language would be physical touch which has turned out to be one of the best surprises about him.

MC pulled her head away from his shoulder to look at his face. Jake was already staring into her eyes with concern and softness.

“Three things.” He said seriously.

MC smiled, curious all at once. She was yet to witness this side of him.

“One, you are anything but a failure. The things you did to save Hannah aren't like the crosswords normal people solve in newspapers. It requires skills and training. You did it without training. That's how wonderful your mind is.” He spoke with conviction.

MC's smile widened. She loved how he picked out the heart of her doubt and threw it away.

“Do you understand?” He asked when MC didn't say anything. “I need you to believe it like I do.”

MC nodded, placing her palms on his shoulders. “Yes. I do.”

“Good.” He said. “Secondly, there is no shame in deciding to do something else. If you think you are going to lose your job then perhaps, the job isn't for you. Perhaps, you'll thrive in some other field.”

MC nodded, truly considering what he said. He could be right. “And third?”

“Third,” Jake said, “Yes.”

“What?” MC looked at him, confused.

“Yes, I can steal money from banks.” He said it with a straight face that made MC laugh.

Jake smiled softly seeing her laugh. He hadn't liked the way she looked wan and tired when he entered the living room.

“Now, do you want to tell me what happened or do you want to eat something first?” Jake asked.

“Both.” MC said. Jake didn't directly solve her problem but he gave her the strength to solve it herself. She wasn't going to let Mike lie and if they fired her, she'd move on. “But first,” MC said as she leaned down to kiss him.

A tenderness wafted between them. The slow pace of the kiss was like another reassurance for MC. She wrapped her hands around his neck. Jake titled his neck, drawing her body closer to him with his hands.

Slowly, they ended the kiss. But neither of them let go. They held each other quietly, feeling each other's warmth and increasing heart rate. MC's face buried in his neck as Jake caressed her hair and back with his hands. Slowly, they pulled away. Jake scanned her face for a final time before carrying her to the kitchen island as she sat down, venting about her bad day and he cooked her delicious food, listening to her.

“Do you want me to hack into this blond man's phone?”

MC laughed. “No, I'm gonna solve this one without any hacker intervention.”

But she knew she couldn't live a happy life without this hacker's intervention.

[thatgoblin]

Summary: When John goes on a cattle run, you and Simon get some time to get closer.

Warnings: Past sexual harassment, smooches, cuddles.

“What is she doing?” I mumbled, watching the movie on the TV. “How is that even comfortable to stand like that in heels?”

“I don’t think it is comfortable, Sweetheart,” Simon said, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl in my lap. “It probably feels like she’s walking on glass. The woman deserves an Oscar for acting through the pain.”

“Really.” 

Simon was the only one home with me for a week and a half. John had to haul some cattle across the damn country with a friend, only known as Soap from what I had gathered, of theirs to make sure they got the best prices from a buyer in Texas. I hated that he’d be gone for so long, but I also knew that it meant we’d get a big paycheck and would keep bills at bay another month or two longer. That was something no one really talked about with ranches and farms. There were so many bills ranging from utilities to taxes that you’d think we were making bank with the herefords that we sold. If anything it just barely got us by. 

But that was the other thing about owning and working a ranch or a farm. You didn’t do it for the money, you did it because it was what you loved. It was because we loved the life we were living that the money didn’t matter so long as we could make our bills on time. It didn’t leave much room for big vacations or big toys that some, much larger, ranchers had. We didn’t need those though. We were happy spending our evenings together in front of the TV after a long day of working while laying with each other. 

It had been nearly three weeks since I’d arrived and I had settled even more. There was no more hiding emotions or ducking affection. I talked out my feelings and even gave my own touches of affection. In getting more comfortable with the two Alphas, I began to let down my guard more and more. To the point that we even walked around in towels. Only towels.

I wasn’t ready to take that next step of plain ol’ nudity, but I did enjoy watching John in his towel that skirted above his knees. He was strong and hairy, his arms and legs covered in dark sandy hair that didn’t do a thing to hide the very solid muscles that let him easily carry Simon around as much as he liked. My favorite part was his belly. It wasn’t flat or chiseled, but a healthy bit of roundness to it while having soft hair trail down to his groin. He looked breathtaking with his freckles from being out in the sun so much, as well as  a few scars kissing over his belly and back. On warmer nights like that night, before fall was really taking hold, they’d both sit on the sofa with no shirt on while I was in short shorts and a tank top.

And Simon. That man was much larger than his clothes made him look. Covered in tattoos, not just his arms, he was nearly completely covered from his ankles to his neck His arms and legs were just as thick as John’s were, giving them equal power to pick me up to throw me on their shoulders. I always complained and swatted at them, but I actually didn’t mind. Not that I’d tell either of them that. While emotions were more readily displayed, I was not ready to actually work with my attraction to them. They were handsome Alphas and I was lucky they were just as sweet and caring, but I had never had a romantic partner, let alone kissed anyone. 

Until I figured out how to actually go about flirting, I was not going to pursue anything else. 

“Do lines like those really work?” I asked, staring at the TV with a frown as an actor gave an actress some cheesy pick up line that she giggled at. 

“They might get a laugh at least,” Simon said. “But they don’t really work. I’m sure you’ve heard your fair share of bullshit lines growing up from the Alphas and Betas.”

“I guess,” I said, not really remembering any lines like in the TV show. Usually it had been along the lines of the kids making fun of me for being an Omega, but I would then beat the snot out of them. When I got older, the teasing turned sexual and there wasn’t much courting happening till after high school. Even then, most of the time the Alphas and Betas that tried would just come up to me to say they thought I would be a good Omega for their pack and that we should mate. There wasn’t a lot of romance like the TV shows. 

“What’s the worst line you’d ever gotten when someone tried to court you?” Simon asked, turning from the TV to look at me. He shifted in his seat fully to face me, propping his face up on his fist with his elbow on the back of the couch.

“Uh. . . Probably the one I got from Matt Keller in my freshman year of college,” I said. “He basically just told me he wanted to see my stomach swell with his babies.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” Simon groaned, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I broke his nose,” I said with a smirk. 

“Good. He deserved worse, but at least you gave him a taste of it,” Simon said with a nod. “Was there any courting that you thought maybe someone could actually be a decent person?”

“Not really. It was a small town and I was the only Omega. Not a lot of people really cared how I felt or what I wanted, so I just ignored just about every person who tried to “court” me because it wasn’t really courting. It was just a proposition to be a mate or the Omega of a pack, which neither interested me and I made sure everyone knew it. Not that it stopped them from continually trying,” I said with a shrug. “I didn’t get to go to house parties or prom or sleepovers because I wasn’t allowed to. Partially because my parents didn’t want me to come home knocked up and partially because none of the other parents wanted me around. I always caused trouble by getting in fights, even if it was to defend myself. They didn’t see it as being a proper Omega.”

“So, no magical kiss with a prom date under the stars while necking in the front seat of your El Camino?” Simon asked with a raised brow.

“That’s strangely specific, but no. I did not. I stayed at home and worked on school. It was all I had really and I didn’t want to give anyone a reason to take it away,” I said. “I wanted to work on my dad’s cattle ranch. I wanted to run it, so I didn’t really make time for finding actually good romance or friendships really. . . That’s kinda sad, isn’t it?”

“Naw,” Simon said with a chuckle. “Things have changed. Despite your experience in the small town sphere, Omegas have more freedom of open choices in the bigger cities around the world. You would be able to go to college without Matt Keller giving you that horrific pick up line. Which means, no awkward flirting and courting that is.” 

“Oh yeah?” I asked, setting the bowl of mostly corn kernels on the floor before moving to put a foot in his lap and letting him do the same with me. Well, my foot was in his lap, half his leg was in mine. The man was long. “No cheesy one-liners from you or John about how you can make my night wild?” I asked with a giggle as I began to rub his foot while he rubbed mine. 

“Sweetheart, you’ve seen our wild nights,” Simon said with a smirk. “The most wild we get is changing our sleep spots.”

“Then am I really missing out on anything?” I asked. “I mean, we kinda skipped the whole courting process. Save for being bonded and legally married, there’s not a lot of reason to use those one liners.” 

“Would you really want them anyways?” He asked.

“Not really,” I said after a moment of thought. “I’d rather have this honestly. It’s easier and feels like a more solid foundation than just courting a few weeks then bonding. At least this way, I actually get to know you and John and you get to know me. We’re not strangers just forced together because of our sex organs. . . Even if it did kind of start out that way.”

“Do you like what we have going on?” Simon asked, his fingers working my arch. “This whole situation of us together without the sex organs part?”

“I do. I mean, it helps that I don’t have heats, but I figured before this you and John. . . You know, ‘took care of each other’ for that stuff,” I said, looking down at Simon’s foot as my cheeks heated up a bit. 

“Now what do you mean by that?” Simon asked, snickering as he tickled the sole of my foot a moment. I nearly kicked him in the face as I gasped and glared. 

“Do NOT do that, Simon Riley,” I snapped, jerking my foot back hard. “You know I’m ticklish as hell on my feet! And you know what I mean.”

“I’m going to need you to explain this one to me,” Simon said, giving me a devilish smirk, letting me settle my leg before going back to rubbing my foot. For as serious as he could be sometimes, Simon was a bit of a teaser that would always get me when I wasn’t expecting it.

“You’re seriously making me do this?” I asked with a huff as he wiggled his foot in my hand. “Fine. I assumed before I moved in that you and John. . . Did stuff. . .”

“Like?” Simon asked, egging me on. 

“Like sex, okay?” I grunted, rolling my eyes. “I figured you two had sex with each other before this.”

“Was that so hard?” He asked with a grin. “And yes, for the record we did. Still do when you’re busy with something and we’re alone.”

“What!?” I cried. “How!?”

“Well, when one Alpha and another Alpha love each other VERY much-”

“Oh shut up, I know how sex works,” I said, slapping his calf playfully. “I meant how are you having sex and I’m not noticing?”

“You are surprisingly good at focusing on chores and don’t seem to question us spending a lot of time in the barn with the horses,” Simon said with a chuckle. 

I sat there in stunned silence as Simon grinned at me. It took a moment for me to soak in the realization of how dopey I felt that I had missed that giant indicator. It all added up and I was none the wiser till Simon had to spell it out for me. 

“In case you’re wondering, we made sure that we could work around you till you were ready or if you’d ever be ready,” Simon said, his fingers digging into the ball of my foot to get my attention. 

“Ready? For what?” I asked, suddenly finding myself lost and flustered. 

“You really don’t know how to flirt or have a conversation about this stuff, do you?” He asked as I kept staring at him with a slight frown. 

“About sex? Absolutely not, I was lucky I learned anything from sex ed in school. . . and that’s not what you’re talking about,” I said, groaning as Simon laughed at me finally catching up. “Look, I’m not on the up and up about sex and romance, give me a break.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll be nice,” Simon said with a hum. “But as I was saying, we were working around you. We didn’t want to force anything or make you uncomfortable. That didn’t mean we were going to go celibate though.”

“Understandable, if not reminding me how oblivious I can be sometimes,” I said with a nod. 

“No problem,” Simon said with a hum. “But now I’m curious, have you ever had sex or fooled around before?” He asked.

“Absolutely not,” I said with a snort. “I never understood the appeal of it the way it was shown to me. Rough and claiming, just doing it because of the excuse that it was a base instinct for everyone. I mean, I never wanted to be with someone like that. Someone that only wanted the knot and didn’t care about much else in sex. I’ve read more sex positive books about Omegas and figuring out what worked for them, but I just. . . I didn’t feel safe to experiment with anyone, let alone kiss anyone.”

“Well, if it helps, I know two Alphas who would happily volunteer to help you experiment,” Simon said, raising a brow and smirking. Oh no. Oh fuck no. That was a face of his that I could not look at without blushing because it was plain as day that he was getting ready to get cheeky with John or me. 

“I’m sure you do,” I said, clearing my throat to look away towards the TV. My hands idly kept working his foot, but Simon’s hands were being evil. They slowly slid up my calf and began pulling me towards him. I was determined to ignore him though, sitting up straight and rigid as he managed to pull me halfway into his lap after pulling his own foot away. “Can I help you, sir? I’m trying to watch TV,” I said, as he settled me with my back to his chest, keeping my gaze forward and not on Simon. 

“I just want to give my friend a hug,” he said, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me close to his bare chest. The skin to skin contact felt nice and before I realized it, I was turning my head to scent his chest as I purred. “Have you really never been kissed before?” 

“I mean, by relatives,” I said.

“I meant romantically,” Simon sighed softly, looking down and nosing at my hair. 

“Yeah,” I said, looking up at him. “Never been kissed. Most I’ve done is with you and John by sleeping in the same bed and holding hands.”

“Would you like to be kissed?” He asked. I had to think about that. It was everywhere on TV, in schools with young couples, people on dates, but I didn’t know if I wanted it. 

“What’s it like? Romantically?” I asked, moving to sit in his lap side saddle so I could see him.

“It’s like you’re closer than a hug,” he said, his thumb stroking my arm as he took a moment to think of his words. “It feels nice. It’s as if you’re connecting to the person on a deeper level. It’s hard to describe really.”

“Closer than a hug, but not as close as sex,” I said, trying to help. 

“Basically. It’s something you have to experience for yourself. I know that some of my favorite memories of me and John are us kissing. Just kissing. Nothing leading up to anything, just us curled up together like this and kissing. One time we were in line for a concert in the rain and we did our best to wait it out, but the bar closed it off because they were at capacity,” Simon said, looking at the TV as he remembered the details of that night. He had a smile on his face, a fondness of the story he was telling coming through. “We were mad because we had been in line for so long and were on a short leave between our military work, but after a minute it didn’t matter because the place was quickly shut down for being over crowded. Even if we had made it in, we would have still been kicked out. 

So, we cut our losses and ran back to the truck. We were both soaking wet and it had to be nearly freezing. After we get into the truck and I turn it on, our heavy breathing fogs up the windows so we have to wait for the heat to kick in. John said something about it being a sign, but I just blew it off. He was more cautious back then. We were. . . Hell, I think we were 23 or so when this happened. I asked him what kind of sign it was. He said it was a sign that we were supposed to be together. Apparently concerts getting canceled and freezing rain meant long love signs,” Simon chuckled.

“We got the truck going, we defrosted, so we headed out. We were probably about 10 minutes from home when the truck slid into a ditch. I was going maybe 20 miles an hour, but the curve of the road had us sliding so slowly that we just sat there holding on as we came to a stop. John said it was another sign, I said he was being stupid, but as we were about to pull back out a lorry truck came sliding past us, barely missing the truck then kept going. John and I sat there for nearly half an hour till the rain had stopped and a salt truck drove by. I managed to get us back on the road and made it home safely.”

“Where’s the kiss?” I asked, frowning. I had been waiting for that part specifically. Was it a rain drenched kiss or maybe one by the fireplace where they laid together to warm up? I was invested and needed to know. “You were telling a story about you and John kissing.”

“Was I?” Simon asked, a smirk playing on his lips. 

“You’re a horrible man,” I huffed, rolling my eyes at him. He laughed, shaking his head at me before continuing the story.

“We got home, walked inside, looked at each other for a moment before we held each other close. It was our first real date and our first real brush with death off the battlefield,” Simon said after a few beats of silence. I knew they were retired military, it wasn’t hard to figure that out after seeing dog tags and the gear they had with them. But I never asked about their time in the service or pushed about it. I thought that if they wanted to talk about it, they would. “We kissed each other when we laid in bed, holding on to one another like we might drift away. There had been kisses before, but that one. . . That was our first kiss as a couple. We were together for the first time officially and weren’t hiding it.”

“That’s really sweet,” I said, smiling at him. “It was a relief for you both, then. The kiss, that is. After everything, you could still kiss one another.”

“I guess you’re right,” Simon said, that fondness back in his face. “I kiss him good morning and goodnight every day, but those small moments are my favorite.” 

“I want that,” I said, looking forward as I rested my head on his chest. “Small moments of connection with someone. I want that.”

“That’s something that John and I can offer you, if you want it from us,” Simon said, nuzzling the top of my head. “We want to give you that. We want to be that for you.” 

It was another door to step through, a choice to make on where I wanted this relationship to go. I wanted it. I wanted them. 

Looking up, I nosed at Simon’s cheek as I moved to straddle his lap. We went slow, his arms holding me as I shook a little. Scared and excited as we just shared the same space. 

“I’ve gotcha, Sweetheart,” Simon said softly before he pressed his lips to mine. 

COD Masterlist

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[satancopilotsmytardis]

Exorcist and demon AU? 👀👀👀

Shiggy gets to be the demon this time around and he's absolutely obsessed with this exorcist with pretty blue eyes and a fracture already in his soul. He wants to own that soul and starts jumping bodies that he's possessing so that Dabi is chasing him around the country trying to catch him. Dabi, while doing this, gets in contact with an occult specialist (Compress) who says he has a ritual that will help pin Shigaraki down in his true form so that Dabi can exorcize him then and Dabi gets what he needs to do the ritual, thinking he's luring Shig into a trap.

Uh, turns out that Compress was working for Shiggy, and Dabi got into a ritual that yes, does summon a demon who cannot hurt the summoner, but it does require an exchange that does not cause physical harm to do so. Shigaraki says that he wants to enjoy Dabi carnally and if he's not given that payment, the spell won't hold and Shigaraki can kill him right there and then and go right on about his business by leaving the ritual site. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Dabi agrees and gets absolutely ravaged by Shigaraki before he completes the exorcism and returns to his life.

Only for Shigaraki to be topside again like three weeks later doing the same shit as before and Dabi has to track him down again like "what the fuck man?" Which is how he finds out that Shigaraki is an archdemon and can essentially just go in and out of Hell at will, so long as he goes through the different seals, which take a demon of his power like a month to deal with. He says he'll be going along his way unless Dabi has a ritual to complete and Dabi is humiliated, furious, and horny after the last time, and they go about it again, ending with Shigaraki banished again, only for this to become a pattern of behavior for like a solid year.

Then one day Dabi tries to do the ritual, and it doesn't work, and when he asks Shigaraki why not, Shig tells him that's because Dabi gave him his soul last month. Dabi stresses he absolutely did not do that, but Shig says that when a mortal falls in love with a demon their soul is forfeit, hence why so many demons try to corrupt through sex, and if the ritual isn't working, then that's what happened with Dabi. Dabi is, understandably scared that he's about to be dragged to Hell, but Shigaraki just cuddles up with him and asks what they should do tomorrow now that he gets to stay on this plane for a while longer. He's never really taken Dabi out on a human date after all, and that seems like it could be fun.

Shig tells Dabi he's not going to drag him to Hell early because that means he'll have to wait until Dabi finishes the process of becoming a demon before they can come back to the mortal plane together again, and that will take a long while, so, for now, they can just enjoy being here, like this. And since there's no taking back his soul now that he's given it up, Dabi says 'fuck it' and enjoys his demon's company.

[aajxs]

a bad person , s. gojo

synopsis - the one where you're manipulative and satoru is in love.

pairings - satoru gojo x fem!reader

c/w - manipulation , gaslighting , submissive satoru , mentions of sex , foul language , reader is a bitch , very suggestive

w/c - 604 words (very short)

a/n - idk what this is but take it while I work on my more important drafts!!

masterlist .

YOU'RE A GOOD person, Satoru thinks. Somewhere behind that solid barrier you put up, you're compassionate. You're a good person, Satoru thinks when you force him to his knees and harshly grab his angular face, smooshing his pale cheeks together while telling him he'll never find a woman better than you. You're a good person, Satoru thinks when all of his friends tell him you're a manipulative maneater that doesn't actually love him.

The thing is, you're not a good person, and you know that. You know the way you treat him is far from humane, and you know every single one of the people active in his life think you're a good-for-nothing bitch. Maybe you are, but who are they to judge? If Satoru wants to be with you, that's his decision, isn't it? Oh, but it's not.

It's not his decision when you have him kissing the ground you walk on like you're some goddess. It's not his decision when he's on his knees in front of you, begging you to stay like some kind of pet wanting it's owner. "Do you even love me anymore, 'Toru?" You'd ask, giving the man your best doe eyes before quickly following your question up with a loud, "Oh, of course you don't. I'll never be enough for you will I, Satoru?"

"No baby, you're everything I've ever wanted!" He'd stammer back quickly, cupping your face with his gentle hands. "None of your friends like me, 'Toru. Wouldn't you want to be with a woman that's more likable?" You'd ask as you bring your smaller hands up to wrap gently around his wrists. "I don't care what they think, sweetheart, neither should you," Satoru would reassure with a sympathetic look. "But Satoru—" You'd begin with a pout, "No buts, sweet girl, I'm all yours and that's all that matters." He admits before placing a soft kiss directly onto your lips. And he's right, he is all yours. His entire being is yours, and he knows it. Satoru's heart, mind, and soul belongs to you whether he wants them to or not.

Satoru isn't in the mood to give you a kiss? "I've had a long day, just a few kisses?" A few kisses turn into him thrusting inside you. Satoru wants some time alone? "You're never around anymore, it's like you don't even love me, Satoru." And suddenly you're cuddled together on your large couch watching a movie. He'd do anything for you, even if he doesn't want to. Because he's yours, right?

You make him feel like a king, like he's the best you've ever had in your entire life. You make him feel wanted and loved, and then you slowly break him down just to build him up again. It's a cycle that neither of you can seem to get enough of even when you're staring down at his kneeling figure, spitting the most degrading statements at him as he hugs your legs and begs you to stop because you're hurting him.

You're a bad person, Satoru finally concludes after you tell him that he's getting boring and you need a new pet. Even after you're done and over with, he still comes crawling back to you after every crappy one night stand because for some reason nobody does it the way you do. And what makes you worse is that you let him in every time, letting him beg you to fuck him because all of the pussy hes gotten in the last few months just doesn't compare to yours.

Satoru is still all yours, even if you are a bad person.

© AAJXS

[mercymermaid]

i need to get my thoughts out there just stay with me

insane amount of sister location headcanons incoming!

the sister location animatronic cast is one massive extremely dysfunctional family

first of all, fuck ennard, this is pre michael's appearance, so he doesn't exist yet <3

ballora is the overall mother figure (i wonder fucking why) and the oldest and most calm, acting as the peacekeeper and trying to keep the rest of the cast calm enough to get shocked to help and back

baby is the little sister (mindblowing!), following ballora around like a little duckling, and is The Main Character (out of the cast, she has the most emo depression moments because she's the only one properly possessed) she's actually pretty shy and skittish at first, but opens up pretty quickly once you crack her shell

the bidybabs and minireenas have the comprehension capacity of literal toddlers, and waddle around all day, being feral creations that will follow anyone's command if they reward them with cuddles afterwards.

now. my favorite demons. the funtimes, the bons, and lolbit.

first of all, funtime foxy and funtime freddy are dating (funtime frexy for life, i can and will die on this hill), my favorite gay man ship ever. ft. foxy and lolbit are.. cousins? nobody knows what exactly they are, but they're similar enough to be directly related, so they roll with it. bonbon and bonnet have some complicated, old couple drama, and are constantly bickering, much to the annoyance and amusement of the rest of the cast. bonbon and ft. freddy are friends till the end, though, they are each other's ride or die (same with ft. foxy and lolbit)

lolbit is also the fucking psycho prankster. being a non-performing character, and having complete access to the location's networks, he has every opportunity ever to cause chaos. he likes to mess with the night guard, for one, but his favorite thing to do is to ruin ft. foxy's performances by changing the light and overall show cues completely, and instead of playing whatever music or audio that should be on, blasts rick rolls. this went on for a solid multiple months until management finally figured out the problem, and poor lolbit lost his overpowered admin access, leaving him very sad and helpless against the oncoming revenge by ft. foxy.

ballora, baby, the minireenas and bidybabs, bonnet, and ft. foxy have killer girls' nights where they give each other 'makeovers' (they're robots, there's not much they can do besides try and apply shitty makeup) and play a poor mockery of dress up with old night guard outfits, and talk trash about the night guards and the other animatronics, along with starting their Evil Plotting (i lied, that's all you get of ennard)

ft. freddy, ft. foxy, lolbit, and bonbon have the equivalent of middle school boy sleepovers on steroids. they steal workers' phones to try and record tiktoks like they've seen "the modern youth" (- lolbit) do, and cause overall destruction to the location. they just do the stupid stuff you'd think of when you hear the saying "girls live longer than men for a reason," because they're accidentally setting stoves on fire and struggling to operate the fire extinguisher, and at one point, lolbit accidentally turned every single light in the entire building into a non-stop strobe light for a solid two hours, until the system had to be restarted (thanks, handunit.)

yeah they're all deranged and silly and totally not killer machines at all thank you for coming to my ted talk

[httpsv33]

Why won't you ask me out? (Shinichiro Sano X gn reader)

So this is my first short story! I have a particular liking towards Shinichiro so I thought using him to start would be safe. Bare in mind that english is not my first language, therefore I am open to any feedback. I hope you enjoy!

Trigger warnings: MDNI, nsfw, mentions of sex, cursing, physical touch, shower sex.

Category: fluff

Others: the characters Shinichiro and Benkei belong to Ken Wakui, no proof read

You slowly fluttered your eyes open as the shifting weight on the mattress next to you pulled you out of your slumber.

"Shin?..."  You mumbled with a raspy morning voice. "Morning" he gave you a sleepy smile "did I wake you up? Sorry" he apologized as he played with your hair softly.

The clothes laying around the room helped you recall last night's events "it's okay" you stretched your limbs as you took a look at the clock on the bedside table -5.30 a.m- "gotta get to the shop early today?".

His lanky figure searched in the closet for clothes to put on after a quick shower "Yeah, Benkei asked me to take a look at his bike's carburettor" you couldn't help but admire his naked body, just like you had done for more than a couple of times now. In fact it had been going on for more than month. As much as you enjoyed the sex and all the time spent next to him, the fact that he didn't seem to have any intention to have a serious relationship with you bothered you incresingly every night that passed by.

"He said it was pretty urgent" you finally shifted your attention to his face, he still had that sleepy expression you were used to look at most mornings "I should get ready too, I have to buy groceries before my shift".

Shinichiro chuckled softly "you can jump in the shower with me then" he couldn't help but draw a snarky smirk on his face.

"Sure" despite the bitter sweet feeling the offer awoke in your chest, you managed to lift yourself up and walk toward the bathroom, knowing damn well what was about to come.

You walked out of the shower with shaky legs, holding onto Shin's arm with one hand. The man had a satisfied look on his face as he pulled you closer to him to wrap the two of you in a towel "was it too much?~" he said sheepishly "shut up" you flicked his forehead playfully as he giggled.

After you both were ready he offered you a ride home, wich you refused, you needed to clear your head. You needed some time away from his infatuating charm to finally be able to think staright. Where were you going with this? How long could you keep up with that weird situationship that never seemed to end? "Ugh" you grunted to yourself. You couldn't quite wrap your head around the fact that he had asked about 20 other women out without hesitation, and wouldn't ask you out for the world. The fact that you had been friends since highschool perhaps made things more delicate, however, ever since you first kissed him in his shop after the closing hour more than a month ago you both had been acting like a couple. Texting each other every few hours, cuddling, kissing, fucking. What upset you the most, however, was the fact that when anyone was around his arms would unwrap from your waist and he would act like a normal friend once again.

You didn't think Shin was one to play around with women, no, he wasn't that kind of guy.  Your decision was solid. That same night you would talk to him, you would ignore his lustful manner, or perhaps it was your own that you had to avoid, and you would have the serious talk you'd been practicing for weeks now.

Nearing his shop's closing hour you dropped by, breathing in deeply before pushing the door open. "Welcome, what can I do for you-" he said, still focused on the bike he was working on, before turning around to look at you "-hey 's you" he stood up with a warm smile spreading across his lips. A smile so charming that made you knees weak and so sweet that left your tongue numb.

"Hey-" you smiled softly "-you done for today?" "Nearly" he pulled you into a warm hug and pecked your head softly "how come you came by? We didn't have any plans for today, did we?".

Your hands were sweaty as you played with the rings on your fingers in an attempt to calm the anxiety that corrupted your whole body "Can we talk?".

The black haired guy looked at you surprised by your words, the seriousness on your face made him worry, fearing that you were bringing bad news with you "Of course, come, take a sit".

You sat next to him on the couch he had in the back of the shop "Are you okay?" he asked placing his hand on top of yours "Yeah... well... yeah..." The speech you had been rehersing for a while now had been completely erased from your mind by the fear of ruining your relationship with him for good.

"Hey, 's okay, talk to me" you swallowed harshly, his reasuring words helping you process your thoughts a little more clearly. "Why have you never asked me out formally?" you blurted breathlessly "you've never seemed to have a problem asking women out, so why are you doing this with me? It makes me feel like you just want something to do with me when you're needy and, fuck, Shin, I have liked you for years now and you seemed to pursue anyone but me-" your rant was cut off by the hand the guy placed on your cheek "y/n listen" he stared at you with his obsidian eyes and a serious expression as he tried to organise his thoughts "I didn't ask because I simply thought you wouldn't want something serious with me, I thought I couldn't aim higher than that"  he smiled awkwardly "you are gorgeous in every way possible, I just didn't think you could ever be into me like that".

After a few seconds of silence that felt like would never end you finally spoke "you are stupid" you tried to stay serious but you couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdness of the situation. He followed you, slightly giggling although still a bit confused about what was happening. "Well, you should try, I might say yes" you said playfully as you stood up. "Oh yeah?" he smirked following you "then I might try".

You pulled the door to exit the shop "hey, were are you going?" he held the door, confused "to enjoy my time as a single womam, hopefully it will end soon" you smirked sheepishly looking his way "good night, coward" you whispered against his lips before giving him a soft peck.

The next day you had just come out of the shower whem the sound of the doorbell echoed through the small appartment. At first you had it was your roommate, who had forgotten their key once again, however, you couldn't help but smile excitedly when you looked through the peephole. "What are you doing here?" you grinned as you opened the door for him "just closed the shop so I thought I'd  drop by" you noticed how his hands shifted behind his back "oh really? What for?".

The warm grin spreading through his face melted your heart completely, how could he be so gorgeous? "I thought maybe it was time to ask" he pulled a bouquet of red tulips from behing his back "Would you be my girlfriend?" he spoke softly as he tried to stay calm, although the both of you knew what the outcome would be, the excitement was overwhelming.

Without hesitaton you pulled him in by his collar and crushed your lips together in a sweet but eager manner "It was about time" you whispered "of course I will".

His heart fluttered as he felt your lips against his, it never failed to warm his heart like nothing else could. He was happy, the happiest he had been in years, it showed im the way his lips danced softly with yours and his free hand caressed your cheek in a loving manner.

"I love you" you muttered as you rested your forehead against his "I love you too". These words weren't unfamiliar for you both, in fact, it wasn't the first or the second time you shared them, but they now felt as truthful and caring as ever.

That was all for today, I hope you liked it as much I did writing it aaaa. Have an amazing day!

-Vee

[bullet-prooflove]

Vanished!Series Part Three: Chemistry: Mike Duarte x Reader (feat: Joe Velasco)

Tagging:  @resonmalvo @@littleone65   @thesandbeneathmytoes    @mydarkestsecretlol    @evee87   @wooshwastaken   @hearthockey @justreblogginfics   @rosaliedepp @thatesqcrush    @storiesofsvu   @whateversomethingbruh  @burningpeachpuppy  @legit9thlunaticwarrior       @kiwiithecrazybird  @spooky-pomegranate     @telepathay   @weiwei0210  @spaghettificationandpretzels @plaidbooks @witches-unruly-heart @magic-multicolored-miracle @cycat4077 @deekaag @cixrosie @upsteadlogic @imaginecrushes @anime-weeb-4-life @hey-dw @alwaysachorusgirl @nu1freakshow

Part of the Hallmark Universe.

The Vanished Series:

Part One: Call Waiting - Joe worries when you don’t check in.

Part Two: Two Weeks - Mike learns more about the UC assignment you’ve been working.

You used to work Narcotics before you transferred to SVU. With your degree in Chemistry, you’re the ideal candidate to go undercover as a cook. Fentanyl and Meth are your specialities, and the thing is you’re good at it, damn good at it. You’ve trained in the NYPD labs; made the highest quality product and you’ve taught other UCs to do the same.

When your old alias gets activated, you’re cautious, things are different for you now. You have a baby, a partner and a family. The thing is you’ve seen the damage that fentanyl can do first hand, your brother died from an overdose a couple of years ago, it had decimated you. You talk it through with Mike and Joe, it’s a short-term op. You make the product; the task force swoops in and catches their target. Neither of them like it but they get it.

The deal is you check in once a week with both of them.

The problem is a short-term operation becomes longer because it takes Connolly a while to approach you. You’re two months in when you disappear. From the surveillance images, it’s like you stepped into you UC apartment building and just disappeared.

Mike arranges for the apartment to be discreetly tossed; you haven’t been there for a while it seems. He tells Velasco this when he drops by with the casefile, he knows the other man’s going a little crazy over this whole thing and it’s been a couple of days since he’s seen Leah.

It’s Velasco that cracks it. Mike’s sitting on the couch with the baby cuddled up on his chest, her tiny fist gripping the chain of his Saint Jude’s pendent when Velasco frowns at one of the surveillance pictures he’s studying.

“I think I got her.” He says before gesturing for Mike to come over.

Mike cradles the baby close as he approaches the kitchen table, his lips brushing over the top of her head.

The picture is of a warehouse in Red Hook, it’s old but solid. The windows shrouded in grime. Velasco points to the one in the bottom left-hand corner, there’s a tiny star drawn in dust, if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you’d miss it.

“She used to do that all the time when the windows in the car fogged up.” He tells Mike, jabbing his finger on the picture. “It used to drive me crazy.”

“She still does.” Mike says as he traces over it before he uses one hand to sift through the other images. “It drives me a little crazy too.”

There’s deliveries coming to and from the warehouse but there’s no sign as to what they actually are. From Devero’s notes he can see the place is an afterthought, a low priority on his dance card.

“It’s big enough for a lab.” Velasco tells him. “They could be shifting product in and out through the deliveries, bringing in the chemicals they need that way too.”

It’s a relief for Mike because to make product you need a cook, which means you’re still alive. Right now, that’s the best he can hope for.

He hands Leah back to Velasco before snatching up his badge and gun from the kitchen counter. He’s halfway to the door when he hears Velasco say.

“Bring her home alright?”

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[mermaidgirl30]

Look for the Light

Chapter 26

- Summary: Aly finds herself trying to escape the Boston QZ. What Aly doesn’t know is Tess is pairing her up with Joel to go on a dangerous mission to find Tommy. Will Aly survive the brooding, moody Joel or will she find herself falling hard for him? (18+ Only)

Joel’s POV

When you stepped out into the crisp morning air, the sunlight shined brightly through the grey clouds and the brisk wind blew through your untamed hair. The snow under your boots crunched with every step you took as more golden leaves fell from the trees, making small piles along the ground. December was just a couple days away, so winter was in full effect.

As the cold breeze hit your face, you hugged your tan jacket closer to your body, covering the exposed skin from the chill. You wished you were still inside that cozy house with Aly, cuddled up on the couch with her legs sprawled over your lap, running your hands through those silky waves that smelled like lilacs. You hadn’t even been gone for a few minutes, so why the hell were you already missing her?

You still couldn’t believe what just happened mere minutes ago. How you had her up on the kitchen counter, kneeling between her legs, how she smelled, how it felt to be inside her, how she tasted like ambrosia and the nectar of the gods. Something so immortal and divine that surely you must be dreaming that it all happened. She was real though, and she was yours. You had her, truly. And you’d continue having her for as long as you could.

You cleared your mind and focused on the task at hand. Tommy. You needed to go find Tommy, and you knew exactly where he’d be at. You pushed your way through the busy community. There were people of all ages every which way you looked. Some were busy tending to the gardens, some were feeding the community animals, kids were running up the street with fits of laughter coming from their mouths, and some were doing mundane tasks.

You still couldn’t believe Tommy built this place. Your little brother. It was quite something. People seemed friendly enough. Nobody was giving you dirty or glaring looks. In fact, no one paid too much attention to you. There were the few occasional curious glances, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was kind of nice. Being in a new place and not being hounded for being the new face in town.

In just a few short minutes you were walking up to the Tipsy Bison, making your way through the open doors. It was quiet, only a couple of people sitting and eating breakfast at a small table in the far corner. You spotted Tommy in an instant. He was sitting at the bar, talking to the bartender who was carefully cleaning off some glass cups.

Tommy must’ve heard you come in because he turned around on his barstool and glanced in your direction, smiling as he sat down his glass on the bar top. “Joel! You made it. Just at the right time too. I was about to head out. How was your first night here? I trust the house served you well?” he asked as he came around and wrapped an arm around your shoulder, giving you a solid pat on the back.

“The house is great, Tommy. I can honestly say that I haven’t slept that good in a long time. That’s the most sleep I’ve gotten in months,” you said honestly as you grabbed one of his shoulders in thanks for the hospitality.

“Well good, good. Come on. Let me show you my little hideout I have behind here.” He led you outside to the back of the Tipsy Bison and into a small, remote building that was made of steel. The color was an off brand shade of white with a red roof.

He opened the steel door and held it open for you as you walked in behind him. The room was small and cozy, but still big enough to have a private bar and place to build small projects. “Welcome to my humble abode. I call this my man cave.”

There was a small wet bar that had a cabinet full of clear glass cups and bottles of liquor that were stashed high in the cupboards. There was a smooth barstool table with two swivel stools that sat in front of it. Low hanging lights encased the ceiling as the dim lights lit up the room. An old wooden workbench sat in the back of the room with a saw, tape measure, and hammer laid on the table. And on the wall sat some other tools that could be used for projects.

“This is a nice little place you got here,” you said as you looked around the room while you pulled back one of the barstools, making your way to a sitting position on the cool padding.

“Not too shabby of a place. I can get a lot of thinking done here. You’re welcome to it anytime. You want a drink?” Tommy asked as he turned to open the cabinet, grabbing two glasses out and a bottle of vodka.

“You have any whiskey?”

“Now how’d I know that’s what you’d ask for. Still not a vodka guy?”

“Can’t say that I am.”

Tommy laughed at that. “I’m not surprised. Got a whole bottle right here that has your name all over it,” he said as he took out a sheen bottle of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and set it on the barstool table. He took one of the glasses and filled it with ice cubes, pouring whiskey to the halfway point in the glass. “On the rocks, enjoy.”

You lifted the glass cup to your lips and took a sip as the smooth liquid ran hot down your throat. You felt a slight burn at the back of your throat as you chased it down with another sip, pounding the glass back down on the table. “That’s smooth, Tommy. Real good. I can’t even tell you the last time I had any alcohol.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty,” he said as he took a swig of vodka, leaning up against the hardwood table. “So, it’s been awhile, brother. Been a long damn time..” His voice came out quiet, hushed. Almost in a whisper as the last word came out quieter than a mouse. There it was. The elephant in the room you couldn’t avoid any longer.

“Why didn’t you reach out, Tommy?” Your voice was raw as it came out in a rasp after the alcohol ran down your throat. You were looking at him warily, waiting for an answer. And he’d better give you a fucking good one.

“I…” he choked out. You leaned your elbows against the table and stared at him with calculating eyes. “I was scared to. After what went down, after everything that was said. I just didn't know how that’d go. And after I left the fireflies, I ran into Maria and I just got busy with her and building the community. I didn’t know if you were still in Boston or if you left. I’m sorry that I didn’t reach out…I was being a coward.” His eyes looked sad as they stared into the glass of vodka, liquid blending in with the ice.

You took a minute to compose yourself and then snapped, standing up out of your chair. “You’re damn right you were being a coward! I thought you hated me all these years.”

Tommy’s eyes went wide as he stared up at you, bracing himself against the smooth hardwood. “Joel, I’m sorry…I never did hate you. No.”

“Then why didn’t you fucking try, Tommy?” Your breathing was ragged as you threw your fists on the table, trying not to lose control. You wanted to throw your glass across the room, watch the liquor run down the walls as the shattered glass engulfed the ground.

“All those people we killed and tortured, I didn’t want to go back to that. I thought…I thought you were going mad most days. It was getting too dark for me. The nightmares I had.”

“You think I don’t have nightmares too? Every goddamn night I fight those nightmares off, I see the faces of those people we killed and for what?! What was it all for, Tommy? To survive!”

“We could’ve gone about it another way. We could’ve survived without all the killing and robbing. You could’ve..”

“I could’ve what, Tommy?! Don’t pretend for one second that you didn’t kill as much as I did! Don’t you fucking dare.” Your nostrils were flared, anger coursing through your body. Your hand was gripped so tight around the whiskey glass that you thought it’d crumble under the weight of your hand. You could feel your pupils getting larger, your eyes becoming darker as you fought the urge to swing at him.

He stood in silence for a moment, grinding his teeth together as his jaw clenched tight. “There’s not a minute that I don’t regret trying to reach out. Believe me. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would. But Joel, take a little responsibility. You went off the rails as soon as Sarah died. You pushed the boundaries. You changed and…”

You cut him off quick. “I died as soon as Sarah did, Tommy! I’m not the same person that I was before then. But do you know what? I changed. I changed for the better. Do you know how insane I was going in the Boston QZ? How fucking tired I was seeing those soldiers day after day when they were the reason why my life got turned upside down? How irritated I was of the smuggling, the stealing, the goddamn deals I had to make with those low life soldiers? You gave up on me, Tommy. You gave up just like everyone else, and I did what I had to do to keep surviving.”

“Joel, I…”

“No, listen! Do you know who didn’t give up on me? Aly. She is the only reason I came all this way. If it wasn’t for her then I might’ve just given up entirely. She’s been the only thing that’s been holding me together lately. The only thing that's brought me this far. And sure, I put her through some tough days. I tested her, I pushed her limits, but she never left! She never gave up on me.” Your voice was broken, hoarse as a single teardrop fell down your cheek. Your eyes were heavy, wet, red. You could see in the reflection of the glass window on the cabinet that you were wrecked, defeated.

Tommy came around the barstool table and slammed into you, arms embracing you in a tight hug as the smell of vodka surrounded you. “Forgive me, brother. I should’ve never given up on you, especially after Sarah. You were never a lost cause. I should’ve reached out, and it’s all my fault that I didn’t. Please, forgive me.” The words were barely audible as his words were choked back with tears too.

You stayed in his strong embrace as you wiped your eyes on your sleeves, fighting back anymore tears that tried to come. “You were the only thing that was left in my life, Tommy. Family. You’re the only brother I got.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” He released you from the embrace and sat on the barstool across from you, taking a good look at you as you blinked back tears. “Family comes first. I know that. I messed up. Look, we’ve both made mistakes. I should’ve reached out after I left the fireflies. I shouldn’t have expected you to try. Hell, I was the one that said I didn’t want to ever see your face again. I remember that day like it was yesterday. That awful rainy day..”

You remembered it as clear as day. The shoving of one another, the hateful words, that deep pain that cut across your chest when Tommy said he never wanted to see your goddamn face again. It was the next worst thing that happened after Sarah died. The thing that’d been haunting you for years. That anger, that remorse, that gut wrenching torment. Something you wanted to forget.

“We can fix it. Fix our relationship. This here is a new, fresh start. This all has been weighing heavy on my heart over the years, and I never once went a day without thinking about you. I really want to try, Joel. I want my brother back.” He was looking at you with remorse in his eyes, a sorrowful look on his face.

You wanted nothing more than to have your brother back. This was your chance. “I’d like nothing more, Tommy.” Tommy gave you a strong pat on the back and smiled, relief showing in his eyes.

“I’m glad you’re here, Joel. Really. I can’t tell you how shocked I was to see you yesterday. I thought I was hallucinating.”

“You definitely weren’t. I can say the same though. It felt like a fever dream seeing you after all those years.”

“Yeah…it really did,” he said as he gripped his glass of vodka, shaking around the ice as it slowly melted to the bottom.

You took a gulp of your whiskey as it burned down your throat before you asked the next question. One of the ones you’ve wondered for so long now. “What happened with you and the fireflies, Tommy?”

He looked distraught, like he’d seen a ghost. He took a hand and ran it through his slicked back hair. “Oh, them. You know they promised freedom, liberty, and justice? They talked so highly about finding peace, bringing the world back together. That’s not how they really were though. They basically started going to war with FEDRA. Bombing QZ’s, hurting innocent people, promising for better times. Well, those better times never came. And I never made it all the way to Salt Lake City. I left long before I got there.”

He was quiet for a minute as he turned the cup in his hands, rotating it as you heard the liquid slosh around the sides. You knocked your hand against the table as you spoke. “Marlene had said you left. She never mentioned exactly when though or really explained why. It was just vague. Her men are something else too. Didn’t much care for them.”

“How long were you there?” Tommy asked curiously.

“Less than a day. Her men knocked us out cold, about gave us concussions. We just stayed long enough to get information on where you might be.”

“Damn. Well, I’m glad you found us. And I’m glad you didn’t stick around there long.”

“You know they’re trying to find a cure, right? For the virus.” The air turned colder the moment you spoke those words.

Tommy turned around in his chair and looked at you square in the eyes, muscles twitching in his face. “I heard talks that they were trying something like that, but never was told much about it. Did you see anything while you were there? Anything out of the ordinary?”

“I saw enough to know that they were up to no good. They’ve been doing…trials. Vaccine trials.”

Tommy’s eyes went wide as he set his glass on the table and leaned forward, closer to you. “No shit. Are they working?”

You shook your head no, the anger returning to your eyes as you thought back to how many people were killed in those trials.

“What are they using now? I thought they already tried vaccines in the past. What’s different now that they think they’ll work?” he questioned curiously.

“They found...well, I’m not sure. They wouldn’t tell me.” Lie. You just lied to him. You were about to spill about Ellie, how they were using her blood to try to make a cure. You couldn’t risk exposing her. You weren’t sure how Tommy would react. You didn’t want him kicking her out of the community, sending her back to the lab or risk other people finding out about her…condition.

You didn’t know why, but you wanted to protect her. Keep her from being taken back to a place where they’d kill her, protect her from being torn apart by a pack of clickers, protect her from other people who might harm her. You didn’t know if it was just your protective father side that was coming out or if it just meant that you were starting to bond with this girl. Dare you say care about her. You didn’t want that weight on your chest. Didn’t want to get close to her. But here you were lying to Tommy to try to protect her. What a fucking shit show this was.

“Ahh, I see. Well, I’m just glad you got out of there alive, and hopefully we’ll never have to see any fireflies again.”

“Hopefully not.” You couldn’t help but let your mind wonder to the possibility of seeing a firefly this way. What would you do if they stormed in here and ransacked the place till they found Ellie? Would you fight? Would you let them take her back? No. You’d fight. You’d fight for her. Even if that meant having to leave this place when Tommy found out.

You put your hand up to your wrinkled forehead and pressed at your temples, trying to calm all the racing thoughts that flew through your mind. You’d get a damn migraine if you kept this up.

“Enough about the fireflies. Let’s talk about you and Aly.”

You dropped your hand from your forehead and placed it in your lap, cautiously eyeing Tommy. “What about me and Aly?”

“I saw the way you were looking at her yesterday. You couldn’t keep your eyes off her. And the way you were just talking about her? Sounds to me like she means a lot to you.”

You stopped and ran your fingers against the cold whiskey glass, thinking hard on what Tommy just said. “She does mean a lot to me.” You stared into the amber color of the liquid, your eyes getting lost as your mind went to Aly. Aly. You let your thumb trace over the foggy glass, letting the condensation drip down your fingers.

“Holy shit,” Tommy laughed as he sat back in his stool and crossed his arms.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You’re in love.”

“What?” Your head shot up at the foreign words. “No.. I…”

“Don’t you dare try to deny it for a second. It’s as plain as day. I could’ve told you that yesterday. The way you look at her. How she looks at you. It’s obvious.” He was staring at you with a stupid grin plastered all over his face.

“Now hold on just a minute, I…” You were struck speechless. You couldn’t think straight, and your head was pounding awfully hard against your temples. You tried again to speak, but you were at a loss for words.

“I’d know that look anywhere. That’s exactly how I looked when I realized I loved Maria. Maybe you just haven’t realized it yet, maybe it hasn’t even crossed your mind. But deep down inside you probably knew all along. I see it in your eyes, Joel. It’s not something you can put a mask on and pretend doesn’t exist.”

You sat there tongue-tied as you scratched at your jaw, fingers trailing through your scruff. You set your jaw as your eyebrows furrowed together, deep in thought. Love? A word that was extrinsic and unparalleled to you. Were you even capable of that again? Love. A word that hadn’t existed since Sarah.

Tommy finished off his drink and leaned forward so you could hear him. “Let me ask you a question. Could you see your life without Aly in it? If she decided to just get up and walk out right now, how would that make you feel? Could you deal with her being gone?” He was staring at you with a serious look in his eyes. You just looked back at him blankly as you got lost in your absentminded thoughts.

No. You couldn’t picture it at all. Your chest tightened up as if someone was squeezing the air out of you the more you thought about it. You thought you had lost her before when she was lying on that table almost lifeless. You were almost too late, and that itself nearly killed you. So no, you couldn’t imagine her out of your life.

When you didn’t answer, Tommy stepped in. “You don’t have to answer me, but that’s just something to think about. I don’t know much about her, but she seems good for you. If what you said was true, she’s made you stronger, a better man. But I will say this. The way she was looking at you yesterday in the bar, that wasn’t just a look of endearment. You could see it in her eyes, her body language she was giving off towards you. That my brother was not nothing. That was something special. Something unspoken.”

You wrapped your hand around the wet glass as you flexed your jaw, contemplating your racing thoughts. The truth was that she did make you a better man. She’s exactly what you needed all along. You were a blank case, a dark hole that was about to spiral into the unknown. She pulled you out of the darkness with the light she carried around her. A luminous lamp that could light up even the darkest corners of a deep pit. She was your light. She saw you drowning in the darkness, almost consumed by it. She heard you crying, gasping for breath. Desperate to claw yourself out of that pitch black space. You needed a light, so she set herself on fire. For you. Nobody else would’ve done that, but she did. She did that for you and you alone. Your saving grace.

Your eyes went wide at the realization. Tommy was right. Whatever this was was something eccentric, special. That’s what she was to you. Exceptional. Maybe you did love her. Maybe, just maybe he was right. It had to be just that because there was no other distinction for how you felt all those times you almost lost her. And the bridge. When you thought she would surely fall through the cracks and end up in that river of impending doom, you were ready to throw yourself over too if that meant you didn’t have to live without her. It all made sense now.

“Ahh there’s that look. That wide eyed stare after the realization hits. You are in love.”

You took another big swig from your whiskey and watched as you emptied the glass, pouring every last burning drop of alcohol into your throat, easing your chaotic thoughts from deafening screams to whispered words. Your hand carried back to your face as you went over your coarse beard multiple times, lost in thought.

You spent the next couple of hours catching up with each other, bonding as brothers like no time had been lost. It was nice being able to laugh again with Tommy. Being able to throw jokes out and tease one another. Just like old times. But it was finally time to go back home, back to Aly.

Tommy gave you another long hug as he held tightly to your back, giving your shoulder a firm squeeze before you exited the building. “Hey, Joel,” Tommy yelled before you could walk off in the opposite direction.

You turned around and faced him as the wind blew gently against your face. “We’re having a get together tonight at the Tipsy Bison. It’s something we do every month. There will be food, music, maybe dancing. I can introduce you to some of the other folks. It’s always a good time.”

“We’ll be there. Sounds like it could be fun.”

Tommy smiled at you and nodded. “Alright, see you tonight! Don’t forget what I told you.” He pointed at you and raised one of his thick eyebrows, giving you a slight wink. At that he turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

As you headed back to the house, thoughts quickly shifted back to Aly. Your heart started racing, your head feeling dizzy with each step you got closer to the house. To her. And then the questions started brewing. Would you be enough for her? Could you be enough? Was what you were feeling really real? Were you good enough? Surely not. She was way too good for you. Way too…

Suddenly you were in front of the house, standing just at the edge of the yard where the grass began. That’s when you saw her sitting on the porch swing with a cup of coffee in one hand and her legs criss-crossed over one another. Your breath hitched as you saw what she was wearing. A red plaid button up. Your plaid shirt.

The sun was catching her at an angle where it was casting down a beam of light directly on her. It was like she was angelic, something the gods had sent down just for you. You ran a hand through your hair as it blew in the wind, taking in her beauty from across the lawn. And then she saw you standing there watching. She smiled at you then. A shy, warm smile that seemed to glow. God, her smile killed you. Could knock you down as it took the breath right out of you.

As you stood there staring blatantly at her with her diamond eyes staring back at you, you knew. You knew right then that you were in love with her. There were no doubts, no apprehension. You knew without a shadow of a doubt now. She was the one. The one thing you had been missing all your life. It was her. It was always her…

“Are you just going to stand there staring or are you going to come sit with me?” Aly smirked.

You closed your open jaw as you nervously ran your hair through your locks and moved through the yard, towards her. You made your way up the sturdy steps and came to stand in front of her. You smiled as you motioned towards the plaid shirt she was wrapped in. “Now that looks familiar. It looks good on you.” And it did. She was marking her territory, letting you know just who she belonged to. You. She belonged to you. Just as you belonged to her.

She blushed and pulled a lock of brunette hair behind her ear. A nervous habit she had, but she was adorable when she was nervous around you. Those pink cheeks that would grow a deep red when she was trying not to meet your gaze with her long eyelashes that batted up towards you. A real angel.

“I hope you don’t mind. It was just really warm, and soft, and smelled like you.” She looked up from under her thick eyelashes as her ocean eyes stared up at you, and a faint smile painted across her face.

“I don’t mind at all. Wear it anytime you’d like.” You gently caressed her cheek before you sat down on the swing to join her, pulling her towards you as you put an arm around the back of her. She leaned against you as she rested her head on your shoulder.

“You were gone for a while. I assume you and Tommy had a good talk then?” She wrapped her hands around your arm and pulled you closer. It made your spine tingle.

“Yeah, I think it went well. We covered a lot of lost ground. Even tied up some loose strings.” You sighed as you remembered all the yelling. All the screaming that took place before the weights set in, planting you back on firm ground where you could talk like civilized brothers.

And then there was that sentence. That one shocking, astonishing line. You’re in love with her. You could still hear Tommy’s joy, see the look on his face as you were awakened to your own blinded feelings.

Aly squeezed your arm in response, bringing you out of your distant thoughts. “I’m so glad you two made up.”

“Trust me, I am too.” You responded as you kissed her on top of the head, brushing your hand through her long silky waves. “And what about you? I trust you enjoyed the rest of your morning? Your bubble bath?” Your voice came out deeper at the mention of the word bath.

“It was wonderful. Quite relaxing. I just kinda wish you would’ve been here with me. I missed you.”

“Oh, is that right?” you smirked as you pulled her into your lap, wrapping your arms around her waist. She squealed in response as her bright smile took over your vision.

“Mhm,” she breathed as she stared up at you with those drop dead gorgeous eyes.

“I missed you too.” And then you were pulling her in, your lips consuming hers. She tasted like her fresh cup of coffee. Sugar and sweetness coating your tongue. She smelled refreshing, the scent of her bubble bath surrounding you as you dipped her head lower.

She pulled apart to look at you, and her face was glowing as bright as the sun. “You’re in an extra good mood today,” she beamed as she raked her fingers through your thick beard. You groaned at the sensation.

“Well, I am. This place, this house, Tommy, you. Mostly you. I mean look at us sitting on a porch swing with a huge house that comes with it. It almost doesn’t feel real,” you said in a daze.

“I know exactly how you feel. This place is nothing like I’ve come across in all these years. I can finally stop and hear myself think. There’s no loud noises, no FEDRA, no rundown apartments, no ration cards. It’s wonderful.” You watched her as she talked with wonder filling her voice, her fingers still scraping softly against you.

“It almost feels like a home.” She felt like a home. She was home.

“It is a home.” She was looking at you like those words were meant just for you, and it made your eyes ease as they gently gazed across her soft features.

You sat there for a couple minutes in silence just running your fingers through her waves, taking in the moment. She gently grazed her fingertips up and down your arm, leaving goosebump trails behind with every trace she left on you.

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked gently.

You thought for a minute. No one had ever asked you such a simple yet complex question before. You had to think a minute, running through all the colors you might pick. But as you looked at her more, one color stood out from all the others. Midnight blue. The color of her eyes. Your favorite shade. A color you could get lost in. “Blue. Midnight blue to be exact. What’s yours?”

“Violet. I always liked the purple colors that looked like lavender.” You could see that. It was the same color as her flannel she liked to wear. A color that made her eyes pop.

“Asking me my favorite color huh? Ya know, I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that before.”

She laughed at that. A contagious laugh that could carry through a room, turning every head in her direction. It was infectious, something you could get lost in. “Really? No one’s ever asked you?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Well, I asked you. So now you can’t say no one’s never asked you,” she laughed, and then you laughed along with her.

“Hey, Joel?”

“Hmm?” you hummed.

“I like seeing you like this. Happy, laughing.”

She was the reason for all of that. Her. “It’s all cause of you, darlin’.” She gave you a sentimental look as she stared up at you, her fingers running along your chest. She gave you a soft kiss and then she laid down with her head in your lap. You took the opportunity to graze your fingers along her scalp, in that thick mound of hair.

“Tommy said they’re having some kind of get together tonight at Tipsy Bison. Said there’d be food and music, and the whole community will be there. You wanna go?”

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t miss it,” she replied with a broad smile.

You gave her a tight smile and continued enjoying the relaxing moment. You watched as more yellow leaves fell from the oak tree in the front yard, making small crunching sounds with every leaf that fell. It was quiet on this street. You could faintly hear the buzz of people a few streets over. It was a bit euphoric. The peace this place had. You were so used to having hell and chaos around each corner, but this place didn’t have that. It was so different. Were you finally at peace for once in your life?

“Joel?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to let Ellie stay with us?” she asked quietly.

The question caught you off guard. You hadn’t really thought about it since you made it to Jackson. You thought she was just cargo at first, a burden you’d have to carry on your back. But maybe you didn’t quite think that way anymore. Maybe she wasn’t a burden after all. Maybe she was growing on you a little.

You had to admit, she could be annoying as hell and she asked so many damn questions all the time. But she was just a kid. That’s what they did, right? Maybe you would let her stay. You didn’t really want to take on the responsibility of her, but you had already done that the night you had picked her up and given her shelter. She was a responsibility. Your responsibility now, and you had to accept that.

And then there was that other distant ringing noise in your head. The fireflies. There was no way you were taking her back to them, and they sure as hell weren’t coming into this city and taking her away. You wouldn’t let them. Not a chance in hell. You’d have to kill them first.

You sighed as your jaw clenched as tight as a fist before answering. “I guess she can stay.”

“Really?” She sat up with an excited look on her face, her eyes wide with elation.

“Really,” you stated in finality.

She threw her arms around your neck as she hugged you tightly. You couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement. She was thrilled to say the least. She sat back and looked at you with big blue eyes. “What changed your mind?”

You took a hand and scratched through your scruff, taking a moment to get your words together. “You were right this morning. She has grown on me. And I just can’t see myself throwing her out. Even if she can be an annoying little brat. Guess she’s stuck with us now,” you laughed quietly.

“Joel Miller!” she squeaked in surprise.

“What?”

“You’ve changed so much.”

“Yeah…guess I have.”

“What happened?” she asked as questions ran through her head.

The truth was it was her that changed you. Her. “You,” you answered blatantly.

Her eyes grew wide at the realization. “Oh,” she answered almost silently. And then she smiled. A warm, infectious grin that could melt every ounce of stress from your body.

You smiled back at her and pulled her in for a long, warm embrace. Yeah, you could definitely get used to all of this.

-

The bar was bustling with people. Every which way you looked people were conversing, laughing, eating, dancing, and having the best time. Music rang through the building as a small band played their instruments in the far corner of the room. The middle of the room was filled with dancing couples on the shiny wooden floor.

Christmas lights were strewn up around the walls, spilling over the bar table, and wrapping around the building. Tinsel hung over the tables and encased the light fixtures. Christmas was just around the corner, and the snow outside just added to the decorations.

Ellie was off at another table, eating with her new friends she had made. Dina and Jesse. They were close in age and seemed to bond quickly. You could hear Ellie’s loud voice carry over to your table as her laugh echoed through the room. Something Dina had said made her bellow which in turn made a small smile creep up to the corners of your mouth.

Tommy had introduced you and Aly to a few of the town folks, and some came up and introduced themselves. You took a swig of apple cider as Aly sat next to you with a cup of hot chocolate. Tommy and Maria sat across from you, tossing back their own drinks.

“So, you guys planning on staying here long term?” Tommy asked casually as he slicked back his greasy hair.

“Think that’s the plan. If you’ll have us, that is,” you answered.

“Of course! There’s always room for you here,” Maria chimed in, a warm smile on her face.

“I know this isn’t like a QZ, and there’s no ration cards. So, how can we help out? I assume everyone has some job they do here,” Aly asked as her cream colored sweater rubbed against your arm.

“Yes. Everyone has something they do here. We’ll find you two something. Is there anything in particular you’re interested in?” Maria asked as she leaned against the wooden table.

“Animals. I was a vet tech when I was going to college, so I may be able to help out in that area.”

“That’s perfect! We have plenty of animals, and we’re always needing more hands on deck. A vet tech huh? What were you studying?” she asked as she placed a hand under her chin, propping herself against the table.

“Marine biology.”

“Wow, impressive. That’s something I could never do. The ocean kinda terrifies me. You must be pretty smart then,” she stated curtly.

“Aly here is real smart,” you confirmed as Aly gave you a small smile, squeezing your arm.

“Sounds like it. And Joel? Maybe you could help around town with things that need fixing? I know you must miss that. You always had your hands tied with some project back in Austin,” Tommy said as he took a drink from his glass cup.

“I could do that, and you’re right. Just give me some tools and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Excellent. Well, cheers! To the return of my brother and good company.” He held his drink high over the table as the rest of you clinked your glass cups together in celebration.

After you took a long drink of the warm cider, you had one more question to ask. “What about patrols? You guys have a set schedule you go out or?”

“We split it. I go out every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I have a partner that joins me, but maybe you could be his replacement?”

Your eyebrows raised in response, thinking about his proposition. “I could do that,” you responded.

“Excellent! It’s settled then. Tuesday we’ll go out early then. I’ll fill you in on all the details later.”

You nodded your head and then looked out to the dance floor. The song went from an upbeat fast tune to a slow, composed melody. Some of the couples cleared the crowded floor, making vacancy as bodies spilled into chairs and into small huddles along the sides of the room. You rose your eyebrow as you surveyed the floor, looking over at Aly. “You wanna dance?” you asked as you turned your body towards her.

“Joel Miller asking me to dance? What has gotten into you lately,” she laughed as she leaned into you. Tommy watched you carefully, a knowing look displaying over his face. He smirked up at you and crossed his arms. His voice came back into your head loud and clear as if to remind you again. You’re in love. And he was completely right.

“Just want to dance with the prettiest girl in the room, that’s all.” She blushed at the comment as she pulled at her sweater nervously. You extended your arm out to her, turning your hand out for her. She took it without hesitation as you stood up, leading her out to the middle of the dance floor. You heard Tommy whispering to Maria, catching him saying something about love birds, and Maria turned and smiled brightly at the two of you.

The music carried through the building, a slow beat that surrounded you. A few pairs of dancers moved around you as they twirled and spun in circles. You brought your left hand against her hip and grabbed her hand with your right, bringing her close to you. Then you started moving, making slow circles around the center of the room.

You let the music sway through you as you focused all your attention on the gorgeous girl that stood in front of you. Her lips were a deep red, sprinkled with a tad bit of glitter in the tint, enticing you to bring your lips down to hers. There it was again. That feeling like the two of you were the only ones in the room. All other noises were muted as you focused on her slow breathing, her glowing smile, her gazing eyes. It didn’t matter if anyone else tried to talk to you in this moment. You wouldn’t hear them.

“You know, you’re a pretty good dancer,” Aly said as she looked up at you, swinging to the slow beat of the song.

“I can guarantee you I wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for you. You’ve got a way of swaying my decisions.” You looked at her intently, a sly smirk marking your face.

“Oh, is that so? So I made you dance, is that it?” she laughed casually.

“You didn’t make me do anything. I wanted to. That’s why I asked you.”

“Mmm okay. Well, I’m glad you did,” she beamed up at you.

“Me too,” you said quietly.

The song came to an end, but you kept her in your embrace for three more songs, not ready to let go of her. Sure, some people stared at the two of you, stealing glances and making assumptions in their heads. But you didn’t care. The only thing you cared about was having her snug in your arms as the music carried around you softly.

You finally broke apart after the dances and walked back to the table hand in hand with Aly. Tommy gave you a hard time as he gave you knowing looks, and you just shook your head at him. You spent the next couple of hours talking amongst yourselves at the table, finishing your hot apple cider, and feasting on hamburgers. It was almost like the apocalypse didn’t happen. This felt like a normal life, not one where you had to fight to stay alive every day. This place felt secure, safe. A place where you could settle down.

As people started shuffling out and heading home, you thought it was time to head back to the house too. You said your goodbyes and headed out the door with Aly and Ellie following along next to you. The wind outside was brisk as light snow fell from the sky. The only thing that felt remotely warm was your hand in Aly’s.

Before you reached the front yard of the big two story house, you heard Tommy yelling down the street, running after you. “Joel! I forgot to give you this. I was going to tell you back at the bar, but it just slipped my mind. I found something the other day while I was out on patrol duty that I think you’d like. She’s a real beauty, if you still play that is.”

You turned around to face him, and your eyes went wide. No fucking way. In his hands sat a Taylor 314ce acoustic guitar. The woodwork was sleek and tan and had a Venetian cutaway around the edges. “You’re fucking kidding me. Where the hell did you find this?” you asked dumbfounded as you grabbed the slick guitar from his hands.

“Found it in an abandoned shop. It’s almost in perfect condition, just like new. I thought of you when I found it. And then out of the blue you just showed up a few days after. Almost like it was calling you,” Tommy laughed as he pulled his leather jacket tighter against him, sticking his hands in his pockets.

You ran your hands over the smooth strings, and the guitar strummed to life. It sounded amazing. “Sounds tuned, strings are all intact. Thank you, Tommy. This is…great,” you said, thanking him with sincere eyes.

“It was nothing. Enjoy it. Just wanted to drop that by to you, but I’m gonna head back home to Maria. Glad y'all could make it tonight. See you tomorrow.” He waved goodbye as you, Aly, and Ellie said goodnight to him.

“Whoa, a real guitar! Hey, do you think you could teach me to play?” Ellie asked as she came over and ran her hand against the edges of the guitar.

“Hey, be careful! This right here is a classic. And we’ll see about that,” you replied as you brought the guitar out of her reach.

“What about me? You gonna teach me to play?” Aly asked quietly so Ellie wouldn’t hear her question. She was giving you those big, pleading eyes. Eyes you couldn’t say no to.

“If that’s what you want,” you said as you automatically agreed to her request.

“That’s what I want. I already know how amazing those fingers are, so let’s see what else you can do with those hands,” she teased as she ran her fingers along one of your rough hands, sliding her index finger down your thumb and ending it along the edge of the guitar.

Her eyes were flirting with you as flames were kindling in them, stirring up desire in your core. You smirked down at her, giving her a silent promise to do exactly as she asked. You bent down to her eye level and put your lips right up against her ear so Ellie wouldn’t hear. “Trust me, I’ll teach you more than how to play.” You blew softly against her ear, slowly teasing her before you took a step back. She was blushing hard, her cheeks turning crimson as she bit her lip. God, you wanted to tackle her right now and ravish her in the snow. You’d have to wait though.

“Are you guys flirting? Because it kinda looks that way,” Ellie asked in disgust, her nose scrunching up.

“That’s just what happens when two people like each other. You’ll understand one day,” Aly responded as she walked next to you, entering the front yard of the two story house.

“Maybe one day, but that’ll be a long time from now. You two just do it a lot. It’s kinda gross. Are you two like in love or something?”

“Alright kiddo, that’s enough questions for tonight. Why don’t you get ready for bed?” you asked as you opened the front door, holding it open for Aly and Ellie. Aly was still blushing, maybe even harder now. Damn. You must’ve got her good.

“I’m not tired though,” she fought back as she shrugged her shoulders, slumping forward.

“Oh yes you are. You keep rubbing your eyes and yawning. Now go get cleaned up and go to bed.” You shoved her lightly towards her room.

“Alright, alright. I’m going,” she huffed.

“Goodnight, Ellie,” you called as she shut the door, saying goodnight to Aly before she disappeared behind the white wooden door.

“That girl is a mess,” you laughed as you turned to face Aly, laying the acoustic guitar against the wall.

“She’s definitely got a way with words,” Aly responded as she came closer to you, slightly biting her lip as she seemed to be nervous from the encounter outside between the two of you.

“Mhm. Now come here.” You reached out your hand and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards you. Her hands rested against your chest as yours circled around her waist. “Now, what were you saying? Something about my hands?” you asked with thick sultry dripping off your vocal cords.

“I was saying you could show me what else those hands do…” With that you pulled her face to yours and sunk your lips against hers, tasting her cherry flavored lipstick. You wanted to drown in that taste.

“I can hear that!” Ellie yelled from the closed door.

You quickly pulled apart as the two of you laughed. “Guess we should go get ready for bed too,” Aly said as she took your hand, pulling lightly so you’d follow her upstairs.

“That sounds like a good idea.” You hit the light switch as the living room lights went out, then you followed her upstairs, trying hard not to think of all the things you wanted to do to her. They’d have to wait. For now..

Chapter 27

Series Masterlist